A Fateful Encounter
by IllicitFaction
Summary: Two opposing parties have spent many years searching for the Orb of Utopia. One day, a third party intervenes. Things get much harder, and both teams must work together. For some though, this may lead to much more than they expected. NorIce; AU; Action HIATUS
1. Chapter 1

**This story is a mixture of Romance/Adventure/Action. It's going to have fighting, but it won't be gory. It will also have a slight supernatural twist where the Orb is concerned, but for the most part, it's just a modern AU. If you find that at any point this story is confusing, just tell me and i'll make sure to fix that and clear it up. **

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"Eiríkur, get a move on!" The other man pushed the taller boy, urging him to run faster. Bullets whizzed past their faces, but they just pushed harder and sprinted for the exit. Both huffing, they ran towards the edge of the brick building in the dark alley. Almost to the safe zone, then they could finally complete this mission-

"Aaagh!" The silver haired boy cried out as the back of his brown cargo uniform jacket was grasped furiously by one of the pursuers. The burly man had a malicious grin on his face and would have succeeded in capturing him had his companion not stepped in at that moment. With a quick uppercut to the chin and deft kick to the chest, the man was down. There were still others following, and the blonde brown-eyed man grabbed his friend and took off to the sanctuary.

They arrived at the cargo bay of their territory and quickly slammed their hands on a button to drop the gate, blocking the entrance to the building they were standing in. Slumping over on their knees, both males inhaled and exhaled deeply to catch their breath. After a few moments, the taller looked up. The other, sensing it, met his eyes with his own.

"You did well today, Ice." He saw the Finnish boy give him a warm smile, and flashed him a small one in return. He figured that since neither of them were injured and they got the information requested, they couldn't have done too bad. Tino, one of his close friends, got up off the ground with Eiríkur following suit. He walked over to the door and took out a ring of keys, flipping to one and sticking it into the keyhole. Putting his hand on the knob, he turned around with a grin. "The Boss will be happy we could get that recording. We just need to go hand it to him, then we can head off to bed. After all that action today, I could definitely use it. I'll tell Berwald about it tomorrow."

The younger boy could always sense a calmer environment whenever he was in the presence of his friend. He was a calm, honest, and positive person who liked to talk quite a lot. He understood that Ice was never much of a speaker, so he would just babble about things to keep the mood alive. Tino also was the first person to give him the nickname Ice, which was a reference to his quiet, seemingly cold demeanor. It quickly caught on with the other people in their (likely because of the difficulty of his actual name), and stuck.

The door was pushed open, and their eyes were momentarily blinded by the bright fluorescent lights. When they finally adjusted to it, a large lounge could be seen coming into view. Long, black sectional sofas were dispersed along with dark leather loveseats around mahogany tables, occupying spaces where there weren't pool tables, the grand fireplace, or the small bar in the corner. Ice always felt that he was in a cult or the mafia when he was in that room because of the selection of colors and furniture; though, saying he was in a cult wasn't too far from the truth. There were a few doors leading to other rooms like the hall to the quartering building, the conference room, the arsenal, and the chairman's office. The two headed over to the office, and Tino knocked on the door.

A voice inside called out, "Come in!" The door was opened, revealing a long table strewn with papers that had no organization system. There was a nameplate with the name 'Antonio Fernandez Carriedo' displayed at the front of it. A man with brown tousled hair and a cheery smile greeted them. "How was your mission? Did you discover anything?"

Tino dug a small black recording device out a pocket in his pants and handed it over. "We tied this to a string and lowered it into the air shaft from the roof of Kirkland's headquarters, and it slid down into the vent directly above the meeting room. I thought they would be more adamant about their security, but for some reason the whole campus looked pretty open. We timed it so they would be having their weekly head conference at the moment we recorded it, but I noticed something strange while we were receiving this information." His eyebrows furrowed. "There was only one guard outside the door, so I assume that the meeting was about something very important. After about 10 minutes, we were spotted, so we had to make a run for it."

"Hmmm..." The Spanish man looked up to the two and said, "Call everyone into the conference room; we're going to start a meeting in 5 minutes." With that, he got up, holding the black device in his hands, and walked over to the adjacent room.

In a matter of 3 minutes, Ice and Tino had managed to gather all the other members. 11 men and one woman were seated at the long table stretching across the length of the room. At one end of the room, a projector was set up on the ceiling, and speakers were inserted in a ring around the whole room. The Finnish man was sitting next to a tall blonde with glasses, also known as Berwald. He didn't talk much either, but always tried to stay close to his best friend. He and Ice were also pretty close since they both hung out with Tino. The silver haired boy sat next to him, with a brown haired Asian boy at his other side. His dark hair was long enough to reach his chin and was parted on one side. His hazel eyes underneath bushy brows were trained on a piece of paper in the notebook in front him where he was doodling a panda.

Antonio took on the attitude he used to conduct important matters, casting off his usual lively and overly-positive personality. Seeing that all the members were in the room, he began. "Alright, i'm sure you all are wondering why we're having a meeting right now. A few minutes ago, Tino and Eiríkur returned with some new information. None of us have listened to it yet, so we're going to hear it first-hand as this was taken straight from Kirkland's most recent conference from about an hour ago." His finger pressed a button on a small remote, and the speakers turned on. The recorder was connected to it using a black cable, and as soon as he pushed play, voices could be heard arguing.

"No, we can't do that, we're just going to end up dead, aru!" An angry sounding voice yelled.

"Well, if you have any other suggestions, we would love to hear them." replied a snarky British person, slightly ticked-off.

A woman's voice, tinged with a bit of worry, stated, "You saw what the government did to the building, they know what we're doing. We can't hide much longer."

"Maybe we can just go straight to the capitol and kill them all. Then no one would be in our way ever again." said an eerily-positive sounding voice.

A sigh, and the first speaker spoke again. "Ivan, you can't solve every problem with killing, aiya. We only resort to violence if it is necessary."

"I agree! We must attack now while much information is still uncovered!" A shuffling sound indicating movement of a chair was heard.

"Brother! Put your gun down, please!" pleaded a young girl gently. The man grunted in response, and a chair could be heard scraping the floor.

The British voice came on again. "Alright, let's proceed with this meeting like civilized people. Since Toris was one of the people to actually experience the event, let's hear the whole story of his own account."

A nervous man cleared his throat. "Yes sir. Well, um, early this morning, I was keeping guard outside the landing pad on the roof. I saw a chopper coming in, but it was a Sunday and everyone should have been home. I called Gilbert and Mathais to come upstairs as backup, and we all waited for the helicopter to land. When it did, a figure dressed in a military uniform stepped out. It was still pretty dark outside, so I couldn't see his face, but he talked to us." Toris gulped, and then continued. "He said, 'We've been watching your group's activities. Tell them to cease and desist any actions pertaining to the Orb of Utopia, or else you will face serious consequences. The government has more power than you think, and your little organization can and will be eradicated if our wishes are not fulfilled.' Then, he pulled out a grenade from one of his pockets and threw it at us. We couldn't attack him even though we had our weapons because we had to dive out of the way, and by the time the smoke had cleared, there wasn't any trace of him left." The room held a still silence.

It was soon broken by someone saying "Way to memorize all that, Toris! Even the awesome me couldn't do something like that!"

The same man who recounted his story muttered something along the lines of "I thought he was going to kill me then and there, of course I would remember that-"

"Well, we're all fine, so no harm done, right?" asked another cheerful voice. Ice could tell that they were trying to lighten the atmosphere, but it was to no avail. Everyone's minds were occupied by the recent attack.

"Mathias, that was just our first meeting with them. Think it through: this operation has been ongoing for eighteen years, and all of a sudden, the government gets involved. If they're bold enough to use explosives as warnings, they probably would not hesitate to use much harsher methods to get us out of their way. We need to formulate a plan that will ensure our safety and continuous efforts to discover the whereabouts of the Orb, while simultaneously figuring out why they all of a sudden decide to intervene and what they want. Now, are there any suggestions on how to go about doing this? Yes, Kiku?"

A calm, smooth Japanese voice floated over the speaker. "I suspect that they will also go after Mr. Carriedo's forces as well, as we are in similar situations." Ice glanced over at his boss and saw him stiffen at the mention of his name by their adversary. "The government's forces far outnumber ours, but we will have a better chance at victory if we can compile both teams. We both are trying to achieve the same goal, and as you previously stated, this is a threat that looks not to be taken lightly."

"The last thing I ever do will be to work alongside that Spanish wanker!" declared the Englishman. "He has no sense of direction; that man would send us sprawling into chaos if we ever attempted to work together. You do not simply side with your longtime enemies over a minor threat like this." He huffed angrily, much like a child, and the room was quiet again.

"Let's just see what happens and decide from there. We can just observe their actions and plan as we go." said woman. At this, there was a murmur of agreement.

"Alright, now that that's settled, we're going to move on to the matter of this month's overnight search." Ice knew that information wasn't important, the monthly searches were routine for both parties. They basically compile any potential leads that they may have on the whereabouts of the Orb (usually just walking around and checking out suspicious places) and investigate them. Thinking about it now, he figured he should go to bed soon. The next search was tomorrow, and he had just reached the age where the adults would allow him to accompany them. Tomorrow would be his first two-day mission, and after all those years of anticipation, it was finally his turn.

The audio tape was cut off with a click, and Antonio, who was standing, plopped into his chair. "Hmm, this could be a problem..." he mused out loud. "I don't think it's that big of a deal though either, so I say we just wait for this to blow over!"

Someone pounded their fist on the table. "How the hell can anyone interpret that message as anything but a problem!" yelled a brunet Italian. "We're already trying not to get our asses kicked by Kirkland's troops, and soon we'll have the fucking government out for us!"

The Spaniard just laughed. "Don't worry Lovi, boss'll be here to protect you!" He tried to put his arm around the shorter man's shoulder but was promptly shoved back into his seat. He continued. "Well, we're having our overnighter tomorrow. It's gonna be Ice's first time, so everyone wish him luck!" He shot his youngest subordinate a warm smile. "This was just going to be a quick informant meet, let's all get some sleep for now. Remember to set your alarms for 7:00, I'll see you then!" As groans of reluctance rang throughout the room, he stood up and, whistling a merry tune, walked out.

The teenager turned to the Chinese boy sitting next to him. "Li Xiao, are you going tomorrow?" The other boy had only been to one of the expeditions since he was about two months older than his roommate. He looked up from his notebook.

"I don't know, let's go check the list." They both got out of their chairs and made their way over to a piece of paper posted on a bulletin board in the lounge, right outside the door of the conference room. His eyes ran over the names listed on it: _Antonio Carriedo; Tino __Väinämöinen; Alfred Jones; Berwald Oxenstierna; __Eiríkur Steilsson; Bella Verlinden_. "Ah, well it looks like I'm staying this t-"

"Whooo! It looks like the hero will be going on the totally intense search this month!" shouted a dirty-brown haired man wearing glasses. With a wild grin on his face, he pulled a burger out of the pocket of his bomber jacket and took a large bite out of it. While chewing, he noticed the young boys staring at him. He flashed them a smile. "You kiddos ready for tomorrow?" he said, food dropping out of his mouth the whole time.

Slightly put-off, Ice replied anyways. "Yeah, I guess."

"Well, make sure to keep your energy up, sometimes the scuffles that break out can get kinda tough. If you ever need some assistance, just call me and i'll save you. The hero always helps those less superior to him!" finished the man. He turned around and walked towards their sleeping barracks. The two teens exchanged a glance, and then followed him into the hall.

They split off into their shared room that had two full sized beds, and changed into their night clothes after visiting the bathrooms to brush their teeth and take a quick shower. Ice fell onto the soft sheets, reveling in the comfort. He easily drifted off to sleep, the last glance he took before his eyes closed being the full moon shrouded in dark clouds outside his window.

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**I'll reveal what the Orb of Utopia is soon, but not yet. I will also put a running list of the characters and their human names on my profile as soon as I can get around to that. I'm sorry that this chapter is moving slowly, it's the first chapter so I had to get the introductions done. The next one will include Norway, and it's going to have a fight scene too :) I can't use the name Iceland since this is an AU, and I think using one of his fan names (although, his full name in this one isEiríkur Steilsson which won't be used often) wouldn't sound too fitting, so I'm just going to refer to him as Ice. Also, I couldn't find Belgium's surname anywhere, so I just Googled 'Belgian surnames' and picked Verlinden. There are going to be a lot of characters, so please tell me if any of them are OOC. Thanks for reading!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Thank you Wisely-san, Mi3staR, and especially theticktalks for reviewing! Hopefully, this chapter will answer some of your questions. Mi3staR- That's exactly what I was going for, thanks! (No worries, there will be no love triangles here) I don't know much about Australia or New Zealand, but i'll see what I can do :) theticktalks- Yeah, I felt like a panda suited him. He's not an amazing artist like he is in your story, but who doesn't doodle when they get bored. Wisely-san- I hope to have plenty of that! It _was_ a bit confusing, i'll make things clearer. I tried to put a lot of background into this chapter too, it should be sufficient for now!**

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"Nor, come on, it's time to get up! Today's the two-day mission; we're leaving in an hour." The blond man groaned, rolling around under the covers to absorb the rest of the warmth left on the bed before his roommate pulled them off. Soon enough, he heard the _whoosh _of the sheets and felt the cold air blasting him from the side.

The blond sat up and rubbed his face with his hand. He checked the clock, seeing that it read 6:20. Turning to his wild-haired friend, he told him "Go use the bathroom, I'm going to change in here."

Content with that, the early-riser marched out the door. The man in the bed meandered over to his dresser and pulled out his navy blue uniform. Usually he just wore a blue polo and cargo shorts, but whenever they were on a mission or doing business, the blue clothing was mandatory.

He was in the process of removing his pajama top when the door opened. Whirling around, he saw Mathias enter. "Haha, I forgot to get my stuff to use in the bathroom!" he announced loudly. Noticing Lukas giving him the death glare, he said, "What, it's not a big deal. It's not like you're a chick with boobs or anything. You aren't, right?" he joked.

The shorter shot him a glare as he said, "No. I most assuredly do not have boobs, as I am a male."

Laughing it off, Mathias waltzed over to his bedside table drawer. He grabbed his clothes, toothbrush, toothpaste, and a washcloth. "See you at breakfast!" he called over his shoulder. With a close of the door, he was gone.

Shaking his head, Lukas continued to change into his uniform. When he was done, he made his way over to the bathroom and then strode outside the building to reach the dining hall. He walked over to the counter to grab a banana, Danish pastry, and a cup of coffee. Seeing that Mathias was sitting next to Arthur, the head of their team, he went to sit at the table with them.

"Morning Norge. We were just going over today's agenda. We shouldn't be running into that blasted Spaniard's team, they're roaming the east part of town and we're doing the south. I figured we would explore around that old warehouse, our sensors picked up a strong force acting up around there. Then again, it could be like that time when that burger-glutton planted his nuclear science project in that alley." He snorted. All three men remembered that it was their first big lead after they had obtained the energy sensors, which detect large sources of power within a radius of 100 miles. Alfred, a boisterous boy who had been with them since the beginning, had suddenly switched to the other side one day. When they came back from the false alarm, they found a large spray-painted American flag covering their base. That was when they increased security and decided not to take everyone on the expeditions unless it was absolutely necessary.

Even though Arthur and Alfred were known to bicker with each other, they were always together. The pair seemed to be bounded together, and even though Arthur was too prideful to let it show, almost everyone could tell how much the absence of the lively man bothered him when he finally left.

"Is there anything else we need to prepare?" Norge asked. He wasn't really interested in doing anything, he just wanted to change the topic from the potentially depressing one that they were about to dive in to.

"No, just make sure you pack your specialty weapons, if you have any that you prefer."

"Oh, who else is going with us?" asked Mathias anxiously.

"Let me see..." the green eyed man said, thinking about the list. "I think that it's us three, Gilbert, and Kiku."

"I like the small teams better, it's easier to cooperate. Although, if this one's coming along with us..." The blond 20 year old glanced over to his tall friend with raised eyebrows.

"What, I'm a totally likable person!" exclaimed the other.

"You're annoying," he replied dryly.

"I know you like me, or else we wouldn't have been best friends for the past 16 years!" he teased back. The shorter sighed. Even if he would never admit it, the rambunctious man sitting next to him was his lifelong best friend. When Mathias first found him deserted in the streets soaking wet one night, he was taken to his home and lived with his family until both boys were old enough to go off on their own, so the two were like brothers. He doesn't remember much from before the point where Mathias found him, so they figured he had amnesia. They enjoyed pretending to have adventures on the seas, being spies for a secret agency, and fighting each other like the people do in movies. Norge, as strange as it seems, really liked playing those types of games. As they got older though, they realized that they didn't really make plans for their futures. They always heard about people talking about how they should do something they're passionate about, so why not do something that they had dreamed of doing as kids?

One day, they heard about Arthur Kirkland and his goal of obtaining the Orb of Utopia. They managed to locate him and ask about the Orb, to which he replied, "It's a magical item that has been rumored to restore any city to its former glory, and I think that it's located somewhere here. The citizens would no longer be forced to live in poverty, and it really needs to be refreshed. I believe that it exists somewhere out there, so I gathered a crew to help me search for it. We need more members. The job includes board, meals, and all the other necessities. Would you two boys be interested?" At that time, they were both 14 and 15. Norge had always wanted to be a doctor, but had never had enough money to go to school. He saw this as a chance; any group that has physical tasks could use a medical officer, right? Mathias neglected his academics anyways, so he figured that he might as well do something productive with his life. It was decided: they would both tell their parents, along with the help of Mr. Kirkland, that they were attending boarding school. It was a bit of a stretch from what they were actually doing, but it worked for them.

_present time_

"Well, you guys go grab your stuff. I'll meet you both by the cars in 20 minutes." Arthur walked off to his office, presumably to get his stuff and prepare for the trip.

"You ready?" questioned Mathias.

"Yeah, let's go get our bags." The two left the dining hall, and five minutes later, arrived at their room. Norge picked up his backpack with his clothes in it and walked over to the door to leave, his roommate waiting for him, grinning widely.

"Let's go!" he exclaimed, grabbing his shoulder and dragging him down the hall.

Finally reaching the carport, they saw the black SUV's all lined up. Arthur was standing next to one, twirling its keys around his finger in circles. When he saw them approaching, he pocketed the metal object and popped the trunk open so that they could toss the handguns that rested inside their bags in. Once they were both in, the man checked his watch. "Well, the others should be here right about n-"

"I'm here!" announced a platinum-haired man loudly. His backpack was casually slung over his shoulder, and he threw it in on top of the other's. Kiku was behind him, and he nodded at the others respectfully.

"Alright, I'll brief you all on the agenda. This should be fairly easy, just poking around in an old warehouse that we detected has high amounts of magnetic activity. I doubt it's much of anything, but it's currently our only lead." He yawned, as it was still fairly early, "Well, let's get in the car."

"I call shotgun!" yelled Gilbert as he ran to the passenger's seat.

"Hey, I wanted it..." pouted Mathias. After seeing Gilbert stick his tongue out at him (which was promptly returned with the middle finger), he turned to Nor. "Let's sit next to each other in the back!"

They were all in the vehicle driving down a quiet back road. It was outside the city; the only things prominent out there being fields of wheat and dark skies, suggesting a potential rainfall. Finally, a large dome came into their view. 3 other cars were parked in the front, so Arthur pulled theirs over behind a tool shed. He faced them from his driver's seat and put a finger to his lips, making a quiet, "Shhh".

They all got out of the car, going around to the back. Mathias lifted the trunk and pulled up a hatch, revealing a set of grenades. They hadn't expected other people to be there, but they always had equipment for situations like these. Everyone grabbed their guns and an explosive or two. One they were all situated, Arthur explained their tactic.

"We have a slight change of plans. We're still going to explore the building, but we're also going to see who those people are and what they're doing. First, we're going to get in through that back door." He pointed to a gray door at the back side of the building. They all ran over stealthily, hopefully avoiding any unwanted eyes. When they got there, Gilbert grabbed the doorknob and turned it. It wouldn't open.

"We could try shooting it!" suggested Mathias enthusiastically.

"I do not think that would be a very good or efficient idea," said Kiku uneasily.

"I agree. A person like him dead is worth much less than a broken doorknob," stated Norge with a hint of sarcasm.

Gilbert ruffled around in his utility belt until he found a medium-sized hammer. With a devious grin, he brought it over his head, then let it come down on the metal sphere that posed no match for his industrial tool. "And yet again, the awesome Gilbert wins! Kesesese!" He strode inside proudly with the others following.

The first thing they all noticed once they were in was that the building was two stories high, and that it had a black sphere in the center of the room. It was about six feet high and had a control panel near the base. The five stared in awe at the shiny device when they heard voices coming from the side. They quickly ducked behind some plywood boxes off to their left and poked their heads out.

There was a table a few feet away from it with 7 people seated. One man at the end had slightly wavy light brown hair and wore a grey blazer. He was in the middle of saying something and gesturing at the sphere behind him. "-so in conclusion, this new device will be used to locate the Orb using electromagnetic waves."

Another person down the table raised their hand. "Yes?"

"So, let me get this straight- we're using the same type of energy that we use to heat up Hot Pockets to locate some mythological artifact?"

"Shut up, smartass," he snarled. "It exists, and the lab technicians said that this would work. We'll just go after the sources with the largest amount of energy and see if it's the Orb."

"Hey!" Gilbert whispered. "He sounds like that guy who bombed our roof!"

"So, now what do we do?" asked another one of the agents.

The supposed leader sighed. "I guess we just wait until it picks up something. Right now, split up and patrol; we don't want any of those other groups dropping in on us."

There was a chorus of '"Yes sir," and they all went off in different directions. One of them was heading towards Norge and his friends, and the boxes didn't provide much coverage. They searched around frantically for another room, and saw a staircase. Quickly, they darted up it.

They were met with a hallway containing four doors that looked like they lead to some sort of industrial-type room. Nor walked over to the closest one and put his ear against it to see if he could hear anyone. It was silent. He opened it up and walked inside with the others following him.

They were just inside the room when Arthur said, "I noticed that there were more of them walking around in the back while they were talking, and some of them were carrying guns. We're at a pretty big disadvantage, so let's go back to the base and gather reinforcements. Then-" At that moment, the door opened. A tall man with black glasses and three younger-looking uniform clad men were standing there. One of the smaller ones murmured something into a walkie-talkie, and then they all advanced.

"You think you can spy on us, huh? Well, not much manages to get past the government, and you boys should know that. We warned you already." The tall one cracked his knuckles.

"It looks like we're going to be fighting today," said Arthur, a determined look in his eyes and a composed stature. He motioned for his comrades to pull out their guns.

"Hey, let's do this honorably! No guns, just man to man," said the man, a cocky grin on his face.

The Brit hesitated. "Very well," he accepted. His gun was tossed to the side along with Nor's, Mathias', and Kiku's. Gilbert held his in front of his face longingly, but with a look from his boss, slid it over with the others. They watched as the other four did the same, and someone put them in a crate for safe measure.

"Alright then, let's go!" At once, everyone rushed at each other. Nor could feel the adrenaline pump through his veins; it had been a while since his last fight. He focused his attention on the boy directly in front of him. Putting one foot in front of himself, he lunged forward with his fist raised. It struck his jaw, and he took pleasure in the other's moan of pain. He could hear Mathias taunting his opponent with "Ha, you call that a tackle?" followed by the sound of two bodies hitting the floor. He shook his head; even in this kind of a situation, his friend always managed to tantalize other people.

Turning back to his own fight, Nor barely had time to dodge a kick aimed for his chest. Twisting his body with much dexterity, he grabbed the leg with his hands and yanked it, pulling the other person over. He extended his hand back to knock the man out, but felt another hand grab it. Looking back, a different guy in a black suit was there. _They must have received reinforcements_, he reasoned. The blond grabbed the person standing behind him and bent over to shift his weight to the front of his body, pulling the flailing man on top of the one already on the ground.

"Impressive, Mr. Norge," said Kiku from his right.

"Thanks. I could say the same about you, nice job with the PVC pipe." He saw that the Japanese boy had somehow used the white poles to pin another person to a metal fence. Looking around, he noticed Mathias wrestling with someone on the ground and Arthur exchanging blows with their leader. Gilbert was at the door fighting off a new wave of opponents, so they ran over to help him.

"Haha, this is some fun action! None of these weaklings are a match for the awesome me!" he proclaimed proudly.

"Shut up and pay attention," directed Nor. Gilbert just grinned in reply and shoved someone into a wall. Nor elbowed another man in the face, spun him around, and knocked him  
out as he sent a strong kick towards his abdomen, letting him fall unconscious to the floor.

He turned back to pick another when he felt the air in his lungs leave him. A person, previously undetected next to him, lowered his foot then grabbed his shoulders. The blond stuck his hand out and tried to pry the strong arms off him, but it didn't work. "Nor!" He could hear Mathias' concerned shout, but he was engaged in another battle of his own. The man lifted him up with little difficulty and threw him a few feet, at which he responded to by rolling as soon as he hit the ground. He stood up, albeit disoriented and with a few bruises beginning to form, when the other person ran at him. He jumped out of the way and grabbed the back of his jacket, making him slip. Making a move to pounce on his opponent, he took a step. The other unexpectedly regained his footing in four seconds, and Nor couldn't do anything to change the course of his failed retaliation as he stumbled towards him. He managed to see his sick smile as his fist came in contact with the side of his skull, and his vision faded into blackness.

**SHIFT P.O.V.**

"Nor!" Arthur heard Mathias shout his best friend's name, and he momentarily looked over to see the young boy out cold on the floor. He turned back to his opponent, who looked as energetic as if all the fighting they had done had never transpired. He, on the other hand, was completely worn out. The same pained, weary look was present in the faces of his comrades, and he knew that they would not be able to win this battle. He blocked another strike from the enemy, then called out with defeat, "Retreat!"

The others hesitated, but resigned and ran to retrieve Nor. Mathias hauled him over his shoulder, and then regrouped with Arthur. He could see the cuts and bruises that each of them sported, hearing their labored breaths; he internally cringed. He felt it was his fault for bringing them into this, but knew that none of them could have suspected this outcome.

"I figured you wouldn't be able to succeed," said the seemingly-invincible leader contentedly. "We'll let you go this time, but it's going to come with a price for your minor setback of our operation." He strode over to a wide-eyed Mathias and grabbed the limp body off of his back.

"No! You can't do that! Give him back!" he demanded, marching up to the larger man. A handgun appeared in front of his face, but he didn't pay it any attention. Brushing it aside, he made a grab for Nor when he felt a firm hand appear on his shoulder.

"Don't. It's pointless, he'll just shoot us all," Arthur reasoned with a cautious undertone. His comrades meant more to him than anything in the world; they were all a family. But he was the leader, so he was forced to make difficult decisions. As much as he wanted to go and take the boy back from the burly monster holding him captive, he knew it would just end in them all being killed. If they left now though, they would have a chance of rescuing him.

"Mathias, we'll get him back, we promise. We all care for Nor, and we'd never let something bad happen to him," reassured Gilbert. Kiku watched the tense display, still keeping his guard up in case they needed to defend themselves again.

Mathias seemed to be having an internal struggle. Finally, he threw them the nastiest glare he could muster with eyes filled with tears, then stalked out the door from which he came with Arthur, Kiku, and Gilbert following. Two of the government agents escorted them out.

"Put him in the small storage room until we find a better place for 'm," said the government agent's leader over his shoulder as he also left the room.

"Yes sir," two others replied, slinging Norge's arms over each of their shoulders. They dragged him over to the specified room and set him down on a bench. He didn't look like he would wake up for a few days; the blow that he received was quick and forceful to his temple, and he was already weary from the other people he fought. Even if he did wake up before they transferred him, he'd be too weak to move. They flicked off the lights in the room, and then locked the door behind them.


	3. Chapter 3

**It's back to Ice's POV. The two boys finally meet, but it might not be under the most normal circumstances. Is this where fate comes into play? I hope I didn't make them too OOC. That's what i'm most worried about, so if you ever notice that happening, please tell me! Thank you to theticktalks for being my beta, and the reviewers Wisely-san and Mi3staR! **Wisely-san- Thank you! Haha, that actually does sound like it would be nice to read, I don't know why I got excited too :P I'll try to include some minor characters, for example, Belgium is involved in this chapter, so i'll try to make that happen. Hopefully, your questions will be answered in time ;) Mi3staR- Don't we all blow off homework for fanfiction? I wish there was more NorIce, it's kind of lacking on here... we should fix that! Wow, you were close on your guesses, nice job!

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The silver-haired boy rested his chin on his hand and gazed out the window. To other people, he may have looked bored. Internally though, he was anxious. He never had any reason to leave the base as he wasn't too much of a social person, so leaving it was always an interesting experience. He saw the reflection of their car as it passed by a building, driving down the streets of downtown, thinking about their plan.

FLASHBACK TO THAT MORNING

Antonio explained to him, "Well, my tactic is to drive around until I see something that looks like it needs investigating."

Ice frowned. "How efficient is that tactic?"

Smiling brightly, he replied "Oh, well, we've found some clues before. One time, I saw a weird sparkly flash of blue when we were exploring in the museum that houses the original book that mentions the legend of the orb. It was right next to an artifact they uncovered from an archaeological site from 1,600 years ago. I think that it was a sign that it's related to some sort of underground civilization!"

"I still think that that was just a cell phone..." said Bella tentatively.

FLASHFORWARD

They passed a few beggars on the street, holding up cardboard signs asking for anything. Ice was glad he wasn't reduced to their same fate; he had all his necessities satisfied and all of his friends that were more like family. He could have gone that way had he not run away from that orphanage he used to live in five years ago. The food deficiency and poor conditions weren't to his liking, but the thing that convinced him to find a new lifestyle was the atmosphere. Little kids always yelling and running, the older ones outside playing ball or whatever else they found interesting. As he was always the loner, Ice wished for a more exciting life. He knew that he wasn't the most flamboyant or fun or interesting person, but he always wished to be in an environment like that. He'd been raised in that orphanage since he could remember, and in all that time, he hadn't made friends. Occasionally he had a conversation with some other boys, but mostly he would just stay on his bed and read through books he checked out at the library or draw, both of which he was fond of. Eventually, he found Tino when he was out on a minor mission, whom brought him to the base when he found out that the boy was homeless.

"Hey, is that Arthur?" asked Alfred. Ice jerked his head up to see a black car driving down the road perpendicular to them with the British man driving, looking agitated. He could make out three other figures in the car.

"Look's li'k 't." replied Berwald from the passenger seat. He rolled down the tinted window and stuck his head out. It was almost gone, as it was going pretty fast, when he pulled his head back in. "Y'p, t's 'im alright."

"I wonder why they're coming from that direction..." wondered Tino aloud, looking towards the other end of the road. Ice glanced over to see the beginning of a wheat field far back there.

"Let's go investigate!" proposed the loud man wearing a bombers jacket on the opposite side of the car, an adventurous grin beginning to form on his face. The teenager looked over to Bella, wondering if she had an opinion, but the woman was asleep with earbuds in.

Antonio, from the driver's seat, gave him a thumbs up. "See Ice, this is how we make progress!"

"You mean by getting clues from observing other people's work?" he asked with one eyebrow raised in question.

"Y' g't us'd t pick'n up tips fr'm th play'n field," clarified Berwald. "It's n't cheat'n if th'ts what y'r wond'rin." The car pulled forward and turned left, cruising down the old lane. This was the most southern part of the city, but the scenery was so different that it didn't seem like a part of it. On one side, he could see corn stalks lined up in neat rows stretching for what seemed like miles. The other was wheat, and it also took up a lot of space in the field that it was growing in. Then, he noticed a large silver building coming into view, still a ways down. A few little black dots were in front, which he assumed were vehicles.

"I think that's where their car came from, should we go in?" asked Antonio.**  
**"I want to check it out, even if it doesn't really give us a good idea on what we're going to do next, it looks interesting," Tino remarked.

"I agree, let's storm the place and scour it for information. If Arthur went there, then there's definitely something up with it. He doesn't just go anywhere, he's too stubborn. Usually, he has to have hard evidence if he investigates something," chirped in Alfred with a reminiscing tone at the end. The boys and drowsy woman pulled up into a spot next to the other cars. Getting out, they all gathered at the side of their silver one.

"Only three cars means that there can't be too many people here if we get into a fight, so we're going to walk through the doors and see what this building is for and if there was a reason that Kirkland stopped by. You guys ready?" Antonio, as insouciant as ever, said, standing in front of his comrades with his usual happy-go-lucky face.

"Don't tell me we're just walking in there blindly with no plan," Ice groaned. He didn't understand why this tanned Spaniard wasn't dead or mortally injured yet considering all the stupid things he's done.

"We always have a plan; we just make it up as we go! It's called winging it." The dirty blond with clear blue eyes winked at him behind his glasses. "Don't worry Ice, we'll be fine." The youngest sighed in concession; he figured he might as well trust them. Berwald strode up to the door in the front and held it open for them as they all filed through.

"Ooh, this place is really spacious!" commented Bella admiringly, now fully awake. Spacious it was; there appeared to be some halls going off to the sides of the front entrance and an open space in the center of the room with a table and a large black contraption next to it. Looking up, Ice noticed another level with rooms arranged in a circle encompassing the building's odd shape.

Antonio called from his position, "We're gonna explore in a group for now. If we don't run into any trouble in the next 10 minutes, we'll do partners." He hummed while he poked his head around the side of the hall to their left. "All clear this way!" he announced as he marched off in that direction.

As they started walking, Tino asked Ice with a reassuring smile, "Are you excited?" He replied with a small shrug. Really, he had no idea how this was going to go. He was still kind of nervous, but nothing had happened so far.

"Can we go in this room?" Alfred had his hand on the doorknob of the first door to encounter, and without waiting for consent, pulled it open and barged in. Antonio just backtracked and followed him in, not minding at all. Bella smiled and straightened up in anticipation, also soon entering. The last three shared a glance, and then went in with their team.

The room looked like it was used to house old office supplies. Ice ran his hand over a dusty tabletop as he passed about eight of them stacked on top of each other. He looked around to see if there was anything notable in this room, but it seemed to just be an ordinary storage room. Antonio had found the spinning chairs and was kicking his feet back and forth, staring at all the crates in the room as he spun around in circles with Bella standing next to him, giggling at his childish antics. He mentally facepalmed himself; this was the man that they let take charge of their operation? Sure, he was great when it actually got down to the important stuff, but at times like these... he didn't know what to think of him.

The two blond men had been patrolling the rooms interior and appeared from behind another stack of tables. "I don't think there's anything else in this room other than office supplies," reported Tino. "Should we move on?"

"I didn't see anything either, let's keep going," said Bella, this time being the first one to the door. The all got out into the hallway and started walking to the next one when two talking figures wearing suits entered from the other side of the hallway. The group froze, and so did the pair on the opposite side.

One of them yelled "Intruders!" and in a matter of 10 seconds they were backed up with five more people. A distinguishable taller one walked ahead of the others.

"So, I assume you're that other group after the Orb, huh? We've never seen each other, but let's enjoy this moment while it lasts; we might not have that opportunity after this is over." With the smirk appearing on his face being his only warning, he dashed forward.

Any and all of Ice's thoughts about a fight being overrated disappeared as he watched the man lumber towards him. He was struck with fear and barely managed to flatten himself against the wall as Berwald grabbed the shoulder of the first agitator who almost body slammed the teen and slammed him against the other wall. Letting out a breath he didn't realize he was holding in, he watched as the man was dazed for a few seconds before getting up and jumping towards the blond again. The two got caught in a tussle, and only when he felt a fist drive into his shoulder blade did he remember the fight that was going on behind him.

With a hiss of pain, he bent over and clutched his shoulder. His opponent snickered, and then said with a patronizing voice, "Oh, looks like I got a weak one." Ice didn't appreciate being called weak. Catching the other off guard, he turned around and punched him in the stomach. While he was recovering from the air being knocked out of him, Ice kicked him in his side. The man in a suit slammed into the wall in a similar fashion to Berwald's victim, minus the quick recovery. As soon as his head hit the wall, he passed out, and Ice looked for the next one.

He noticed Antonio fending off two and wanted to interfere, but he seemed to be handling it well. Mesmerized, he watched as his boss dodged a blow and pulled the other weaker opponent off his feet, making him land face-down on the concrete. Ice cringed at that move. He twisted his body and stuck his foot out, successfully kicking the other square in the chest. He stumbled back unknowingly into Tino's awaiting fist, and was the last enemy to fall down, knocked out.

Finally noticing that they cleared the hall, the boy registered that he had just beaten someone up. He looked back to check if he actually did that, and saw the man just how he left him.

"It's kind of a strange feeling, isn't it?" asked Bella. She looked as if nothing happened, with her sisterly aura still surrounding her, never mind the bruise beginning to form on her forearm. Ice nodded in agreement.

"Well, that was fun! I almost forgot how much I missed fighting," Alfred sighed loudly. "Anyways, we're free to explore this place now. Let's go in there!" He pointed to the next door, and then rushed into it much like the last time. Ice just walked through, expecting another storage room. He was right to assume so; this room was stocked with chairs and tables. Too busy observing it, he walked right into Alfred's back.

"Hey, what's going... on...?" His voice died down as he noticed what made the man stop. Lying on a bench a few yards away was a boy. He couldn't have been more than three years older than him. With blond hair strewn over his face, he appeared to be sleeping. At closer inspection though, he noticed a small bit of red on the top of his forehead... Ice took a step back, his eyes bulging widely.

"Oh shit, he's dead." He sat on the floor and put his head on his knees to stabilize it. What if they were found with that other guy, would he go to prison? Or what if he was in his place, brutally murdered and left in a storage room to degrade?

"Haha, Dude, as much fun as I'm having watching you freak out like a 12-year old girl, I'll just reassure you now. He's alive." The boy looked up to see Alfred kneeling down to the person on the bench with his hand on his chest. "His breathing is even, but from the blood on his forehead, I think he's knocked out pretty hard."

"L'ts take 'em to th' car."

Using his abnormal strength, Alfred easily picked up the unconscious man bridal-style. Ice could get a better look at his face; his clean haircut framed his face neatly. He had one part pinned back by a hair clip in the shape of a cross. A small cut above his left eyebrow and a bruise next to it were the only visible injuries.

"So, what's next?" asked Alfred, the mysterious boy in his arms.

Antonio, standing next to Bella, improvised a new plan. "I'm pretty sure the place is cleared out, and I don't want our work to be for nothing. Let's set him on the table in that center room." The (now) group of seven walked out of the small storage room and turned at the end of the hall into the large space that occupied half of the building's area. It was also circle-shaped like the outside of it, and looked more inhabited. Working computers were set up around the wall in one area, piles of crates in another.

The conference table was left just like how it had been when they walked in, and Tino began to gather the notebooks and papers in a neat stack. Alfred laughed. "Tino, we're enemies. You don't need to clean up after them like their housewife or something!"

Tino looked up momentarily. "I'm only being courteous. Just because we invaded their base doesn't mean we have to destroy it." He resumed his organizing, trying to make room for the sleeping boy.

"He's right Alfred, although we know how much you enjoy causing trouble." The woman jokingly waggled her finger at him.

Alfred pouted at them, and then set the person down gently on the table. His face suddenly changed to puzzlement, then recognition. "Hey, you guys! I know this person!" He started to jump and point at the completely oblivious person directly in front of him. "It's Norge! He's from Arthur's team, I remember now! He was their main medic too. Haha, pretty ironic considering he's been injured and stuff-"

"He's one of Kirkland's friends? That's convenient! Now I can get Eyebrows to talk with me!" exclaimed Antonio happily. He was met with their confused looks. "Oh, I've been considering a merger for a while, but I wasn't able to figure out a way to get Arthur to talk to me. He's pretty stubborn, you know? I know he'll listen if we have one of his charges, plus, he's smart. I think he's just too proud to admit that we need to work together."

Ice gingerly stepped towards the person whom Alfred had just called 'Norge'. "Should we leave now? The other people will probably wake up really soon, plus he probably needs to be checked for a concussion or something," he said, his eyes on Norge the whole time.

"Yeah, we can just ask him for the information their team recovered when he wakes up. Let's get in the car, mission complete!" Folding his arms behind his neck, Antonio walked through the door to the front.

"Alright, let's go!" said Alfred, scooping up the blond in his arms. Bella had already disappeared with the Spaniard, so the remaining people followed.

As Ice began moving, he felt a hand rest on his shoulder. Looking to his left, he saw Tino. "Sorry your first 'overnighter' only lasted a couple of hours," he said with a sympathetic smile.

The boy shrugged. "We got something accomplished, so it doesn't really matter to me." In actuality, he was curious about the new boy they discovered. He didn't mind going home as long as he got to figure out more; it was like one of his adventure novels, and for some reason, Norge strangely reminded him of something he couldn't quite put his finger on.

"Honestly, they don't get more interesting than this. I'm sure our visit to Mr. Kirkland will be fun though!" he said positively.

"M'h, I d'nno if I'd say f'n," commented Berwald from Tino's other side.

The trio stopped at the car where the others were climbing into the seats, then filed into the vehicle. Bella sat in the third row, and Alfred was trying to position Norge on the side. Noticing the other three coming in, he called out, "Hey, Ice, can you come and sit in the middle to support him in case he falls over or something? I don't want him to hit his head again."

Ice hesitated at the mention of contact with the strange boy, but then hopped in and sat in the middle. He strapped himself in and looked over. He could see the rise and fall of his chest as he took even breaths in his sleep. Wondering what kind of a person he was when he was awake, he directed his question towards the tall man in the row in front of him. "What's he like?"

Turning his head around, he answered, "What's Nor like?" Letting out a chuckle, he continued, "Well, he's an intriguing character, I can say that for sure. I think you guys could get along well." He faced the front, relaxing against the seat and closed his eyes.

Ice deadpanned. Not really the answer he was looking for. With a sigh, he also sank back into the cushioned interior of the car. He supposed he would have to wait until he regained consciousness. In the meantime though-

"Bella, are you listening to Vocaloid?" he said, turning to the girl.

She looked up and upon finding Ice as the source of the voice, just giggled and flashed him her trademark cute smile. He looked back to the front of the car. _Damn,_ he thought. _Those otaku people are everywhere_. He knew that creepy Korean guy Im Yong was into it, and after he discovered Li Xiao's hentai stash, Ice found out that he liked it too. Apparently Bella was a fan. He'd need to be more wary around her; never would he be able to forget that night when the two Asian boys accosted him with their camera and tried to convince him to take pictures for their doujinshis before he threatened to pay Abel to beat the crap out of them... He shuddered at the thought.

"Are you okay, Ice?" she inquired innocently.

"Yeah, I'm fine," he replied, a little too quickly. She didn't seem to notice the quirk, and just smiled again, going back to listening to her music. The teen, still a little shaken up, just sat in his seat anxiously awaiting the end of the ride.

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**And it ends with Ice freaking out about crazed yaoi fans. I bet you guys totally expected that.**


	4. Chapter 4

**I realized how short the last chapter was... so I made this one a bit longer. Oh, and I know I mangled Sweden last chapter with his speech-style, sorry about that :P He's not really major in this chapter, so i'll try to fix that before he makes any more appearances. This one has 2 more characters! I'm going to try and give every character a pairing (not necessarily spotlighted too much, this IS a NorIce fic), but i'm still unsure about a few. If you have a preference, just PM or review and i'll consider it.**

**Thanks to Mi3staR, Kayzz, Rabbah, and Wisely-san for reviewing the last chapter! Mi3staR- Ice isn't into that stuff, don't worry. Haha, I know what you mean; i've read some things where Sweden talks a lot, and some where he's quiet, so i'm still trying to find out how he's going to be. I think i'll stick with the more quiet personality, thanks for pointing that out! Since I'm American, I just had to think, "Hmmm, what's something my most American guy friend would say?" Kayzz- I'm glad I'm doing that at least a bit well, I wasn't sure how those were being envisioned. Yeah, I need to work on that too, i'll fix it for the next time he makes an appearance. Aww, thanks! Rabbah- Well then... here you go! Wisely-san- Really? I'm glad you like it :) Thank you!**

**Warning: This has a scene involving drinking. They don't have a drunken bar fight or start cussing or kill anyone or do anything provocative. Just a drinking contest and Denmark, so it should still be T. **

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"You guys, we made it back alive!" bellowed the notorious 'hero'. Looking around, he noticed only a few people in the lounge, more than half of them drinking coffee and giving him the 'it's too early to be loud' look. Not minding it, he strode off towards the kitchen saying something like, "Hmmm, I could really go for a burger right about now."

"Berwald, could you bring the man into the sick bay? We probably need to check him for any other injuries and clean up his cut. I would do it, but I have to make a call." Antonio turned his head to the quiet teen, and his face brightened when he came up with a new idea. "Oh, Ice, do you think you can do it?"

"I'm not a doctor," he stated.

"No, it's fine. It's all really basic medical stuff! Just checking him out and patching up his forehead. Plus, Alfred said that he's a medic, so if he wakes up he'll know what to do." Ice coughed at the mention of checking him out. Not like he was doing that in the car or anything. Really though, he had no idea where this nagging sense of recognition was coming from, he was sure that he had never seen this boy in his life.

Antonio took his silence as a yes. "I guess just stay in there until lunch or whenever he wakes up. We'll see you later at 3500 Palomar Lane!" he said cheerily and skipped off, probably to locate Romano.

Tino laughed. "He's a fun guy to have around. Anyways, are you guys ready to go?" Hearing Berwald grunt in approval and seeing Ice's nod, the trio set off.

Soon, they reached the room. Tino pulled back the sheets as the taller man slipped Norge into the bed. "Can you get some cotton balls and hydrogen peroxide?" he called over his shoulder.

Ice walked over to a cabinet to retrieve the requested supplies, and then returned to the people at the bedside. "We'll leave it to you from here," said the blonde, who then exited the room with Berwald.

Ice slowly began to unscrew the bottle, and then turned it upside-down over a cotton ball. Gingerly, he reached over and pressed it to the cut on the boy's head. Using small strokes, he had cleaned up most of his blood when he heard a groan. He quickly jerked his hand back. His eyes were focused on Norge as he watched the other boy open his own. When he did, he saw clear blue pools that glanced around the room and finally landed on him. Stiffening, he stood there in an awkward position, hunched over with his hand frozen above the other's head. He quickly retreated a foot away from the bed. Though the boy did not seem to be frightened. He just laid on the pillow, his unreadable gaze fixed on him.

Ice gulped. A silence hung over the room; neither of them breaking eye contact or talking; one of them apprehensive, and the other looking like waking up in a strange room with someone else was a daily occurrence. The silver headed one coughed to ease the atmosphere, possibly prompting a response. Nothing happened.

Finally, he managed to say something. "Hi," he quietly murmured.

The one on the bed replied in a monotone voice, "Hello," still maintaining his emotionless demeanor.

Figuring he would have to be the one to introduce himself, he stated, "My name's Ice. Uh, how are you feeling?"

The boy shifted in the bed and propped himself up so he was sitting. "Norge. You can call me Nor. I'm fine."

"Well, I was cleaning your cut when you woke up. Do you mind if I finish?" Ice asked apprehensively.

"I can do it," he said.

Figuring it would be okay, Ice walked closer and handed him the cotton ball. Nor reached for it, then his eyes suddenly got wider and he retracted his hand. He made no sound, but from his posture Ice realized that there was a problem with his arm.

"Is it broken?" he questioned. He hoped not, he didn't know the first thing about broken limbs.

"I'm fine," he restated, giving away no clues about his arm.

Ignoring his lie, he reached over and swabbed away the remaining blood. Apparently, Nor was stubborn and trying to cover up his injuries. Ice was intent on following through with his job for his boss, and even though he wouldn't accept it himself, he was still interested in finding out more about the person.

"Sit still," he ordered. Then, he gently grasped the end of his sleeve and pulled it up, revealing a swollen purple splotch on his forearm. Nor reached over with his other arm and quickly tugged it down.

"It's just a fracture." Ice looked at him like he was insane; he was refusing help when he had a fractured bone?

"I don't know how to treat those, so I'm gonna go get someone who can." Ice turned to exit the room, when he heard him call out.

"Wait."

He stopped and pivoted around, waiting for whatever he had to say.

"Who do you work for?" Oh, he realized. I probably should've told him that earlier.

"Antonio Carriedo," he replied nonchalantly.

"You guys work in that abandoned warehouse?"

"No. We were investigating it when we found you on a bench, and we brought you to our base."

"Ah, you're awake now!" exclaimed a jubilant voice. Ice whipped around to see his boss walk through the entrance of the room. "I hope you're feeling better. I see that Ice has informed you of the situation." He turned to the teen and smiled.

"Yes sir, some of it."

"I guess now would be a good time to hold this conversation." He strode over to his bedside, but instead of standing, plopped himself down on the bed. "You don't need to worry; we aren't going to hurt you. We're just going to use you as a reason to forge an alliance between our group and Arthur's." Ice glanced at Nor. If he was surprised by this proposition, he didn't show it. "Everyone knows how stubborn he is, and even if he won't admit it, he probably also knows that our only way to beat the government agents is to merge. We can use you to convince him to meet with us, and our exchange can definitely result in a new partnership!" The Spaniard was beaming, extremely content with the idea that he came up with.

"I don't really have a choice either way," stated Nor dryly.

"Great!" Antonio said, oblivious to the boy's uncaring attitude. "In the meantime, Ice can help you with whatever you need!" He leaned in to whisper something to him, but both of the room's occupants heard it anyways. "Plus, he doesn't really have friends since he's anti-social."

Finally, Nor expressed some sort of emotion. It was in the form of a smug grin, aimed at the silver haired boy awkwardly standing in the corner of the room. His cheeks turned a shade of red, and he crossed his arms defensively.

"Haha, anyways, just remember to tell him if you need anything!" Antonio was almost out the door when Ice remembered Nor's arm.

"Oh, his arm is fractured! Do we have anyone who knows how to-" he called out to him, but was surprisingly interrupted by the blonde boy.

"I know how to fix it. I'm sure that if Ice helps me secure it, I'll be fine." The smile was gone, but there was still a trace of amusement evident in his eyes and voice.

"Well then, I hope your arm gets better!" Antonio waved to the two boys as he exited, and the room was once again enveloped in silence.

"So, Ice, how much medical experience do you have?" Nor asked in a monotone voice. He just shrugged in response. "Today, you're gonna learn how to set a fractured arm," he said, and the teen sensed a challenge woven into his underlying tone.

Still crossing his arms, Ice considered whether he should actually follow Antonio's orders.

"Come on, I don't bite." Sighing, he walked over to Nor, who was looking more attentive now that he had been awake for a while.

"First, get a bag of ice and a towel." He walked to the small refrigerator/freezer and put some ice in a large Ziploc, then took a dish towel out of a drawer. "Put the bag in the towel and hand it to me." After he did what he was told, Ice gave the bundle to the medic, who set it on top of the injured part of his arm. "We'll need tape, gauze, and a plastic arm splint."

Walking to a drawer, he asked, "What kind of tape?"

"The thick clear type." Ice grabbed the large roll along with some scissors and the soft, fabric-like roll of medical gauze. He opened a cabinet and took out the plastic splint, then went back to the bed and set it down.

Nor took the bag of ice off his arm, then held his arm up in front of him and supported it. "Wrap the gauze around the fractured part. Make sure you add some extra to the ends." The teen held mixed feelings about getting close to people, so he wasn't exactly elated when he had to touch his 'patient'. Nevertheless, he did it.

"Like this?" he asked as he slowly wove the white material back and forth, up and down.

"Yes, now tuck it in," he instructed passively. When that was done, he continued. "All you have to do is put the plastic around it, then secure it with the snaps." He gently slipped it around his wrist until it covered the forearm, and snapped it in place.

Nor examined it carefully for a few moments. Ice was starting to wonder if he did something wrong, when he looked up. "It'll work. I'll give you a C," then he relaxed against the large pillow.

_Wait, so he was testing him?_He started to feel a little angry at Nor's response to his results. "I did everything that you told me to; what did I mess up on?" he said, with a hint of irritation.

Without warning, his arm was grabbed by a surprisingly strong hand and he found himself leaning over the bed. Nor, with one hand on him and the other one held up for him to see, looked as indifferent as ever, not minding the lack of personal space. "You didn't wrap it properly. See, this should be a little looser." Turning his splint at an angle, Ice could see that it did look a little tight. _Whatever, he could live with it,_ he thought.  
"That's all I needed. You can leave now," said the blonde as he released him. Taking that as his cue, Ice turned around left the room, glad to be out of the slightly unnerving presence of the new person.

Antonio sat in his comfortable brown chair behind his desk in his office. He was the only one in there; not even Romano was in the room with him. He fiddled around with his pen, spinning it back and forth between his fingers. Finally, he picked up the receiver on his desk and dialed the numbers he had scribbled down on the scrap of paper resting in front of him. As he heard the unmistakable 'brrr…brr…brr…" of the waiting call through the phone, he couldn't help but bite his lip. He hoped that if Arthur answered the phone, he wouldn't just hang up as soon as he heard it was him. Maybe, he'd listen to what he has to say and consider his words carefully.

"Hello?" It was a woman's voice who picked up. He sighed with relief; at least his call didn't go ignored.

"Hi, this is Antonio Carriedo. I was wondering if Mr. Kirkland is available at the moment." He heard the shuffling of papers, and what sounded like someone muffling on the end of the phone and speaking to a third person.

"Um, yes, Mr. Carriedo. What would you like to speak with him about?" She sounded a bit bitter; they must've all been alerted to Nor's kidnapping, and he wasn't surprised that they would be somewhat edgy.

"I would like to make a deal with him," he said simply.

"Here he is," she said, then a few moments of silence.

It was soon broken by an unmistakable British voice, uttering his name. "Carriedo," he said crisply; Antonio didn't miss the malice in there.

"Arthur, it's been a while, huh?" he chuckled, trying not to start the conversation out negatively. It seemed like his rival had other ideas.

"What do you want? Don't give me a tough time, I already had one of my men kidnapped today."

"Well, you see, that's one of the things that I wanted to discuss with you. We saw your group driving away from that old warehouse, and when we investigated it, we found Norge." He heard the chair on the other end of the phone scrape against the ground as Arthur stood up. He had to hold the receiver a few centimeters away from his ear as he listened to the exploding Brit practically shove his words down his throat.

"If you dare harm that boy, I swear, I will personally find you, rip your bloody heart out, and-"

"No, he's fine!" Antonio assured him hurriedly. "I have one of my men attending to him in the sick bay. He was knocked out for a bit and I think his arm's fractured, but he's alright now." He could hear Arthur sigh, and took that as a sign to continue. "I have a few matters that I believe we as leaders need to discuss-"

"Don't think I haven't known this conversation was coming." The man sounded weary and ready to get this over with. "Do you mind if we have this somewhere else though? I'm kind of high strung right now with all these things happening."

_Yes!_ Antonio thought. _He'll meet with me!_ "Wherever you want, mi amigo!" he responded with enthusiasm. Knowing Arthur though, he probably was going to pick a place where he can get drunk. Really drunk.

"Do you know that tavern down on Mahogany Street?" He guessed it.

"Yep! What time works for you?" Antonio questioned.

He could hear him talking to someone, probably that other girl in the room. Returning to their conversation, Arthur asked, "Can we meet at 5? Bring Norge; I just want to know that he's okay."

Antonio smiled at the evident display of care for his comrades. "Si, I'll bring him."

"Alright. I'll see you then." The conversation was adjourned for the time being, and the Spaniard set the phone back into its dock. He leaned back into his chair again and let out a breath he had been holding in. Things were settled for now, and he just wondered how things would go in six hours when the two captains would have their exchange face to face.

"Anyone who wants to retrieve Nor and/or get smashed, come with me," grumbled Arthur to the whole team in the common room.

Mathias immediately sprung out of his seat. "You've rescued Nor? And we're drinking? Fuck yeah!" he ran out the door before anyone else spoke a word, Arthur's line of vision following him with slight distaste etched on his face.

"If anyone else wants to take me up on that offer, I'll be in the car." He unhooked a key ring off the hanger on the wall and also left the room.

"Kesesese, I could go for a nice German beer at the moment!" said Gilbert happily. He and Matthew got up and also decided to go to the tavern.

Once they were all in the car, Arthur pulled out of the parking lot. Gilbert casually threw an arm around Matthew, who gently tried to pull away. "Hehe, h-hey Gilbert, I don't know if you know this but your arm-"

"So," the red-eyed man interrupted loudly with a grin. "What's up with Nor?"

"Carriedo found him at the warehouse and took him to their place to clean him up. We're going to meet up with them and... discuss a few matters." They all knew that when he said 'matters', he meant the merger. They've known ever since the incident that taking that option would be the best course of action, but they didn't want to mention it to him in case he rejected it too early.

"What if he brings along Alfred?" asked Mathias absentmindedly. He heard Arthur and Matthew stiffen.

Gilbert snickered. "I wouldn't be surprised if he did."

"Then I guess I'll just greet him as..." Matthew faltered; what should he refer to him as, loving brother who abandoned him a few years ago and he hadn't heard of since, or friend? "...another person." Gilbert looked at him strangely, and then grinned again.

"Birdie, you have an interesting way of words."

Arthur, who had been silent the whole topic, cleared his throat. "So, who's going to be our designated driver? Certainly not me."

Simultaneously, Mathias and Gilbert said, "Matthew."

The golden blonde sighed. "I expected as much."

When they finally made it to the pub, all the boys got out of the car. In front of the building, a streetlight shone down on the sidewalk, illuminating the stone exterior. Through the two windows, you could tell that the inside of it was also fairly dark.

As Arthur pushed the door open, he turned back to the others. "If I'm past my limit, stop me before I do something rash."

"No promises, boss!" saluted Mathias. Arthur shot him a glare before he stepped into the building.

The tavern had dimmed lighting with a long bar on one side. Multiple sets of tables and chairs occupied the rest of the space. Noticing someone waving him over to a stool, he walked over to meet him. "Ah, Arthur! It's nice to see-"

"Where's Norge?" he demanded. Looking around, he finally found a pair of blue eyes sitting at a table. The bored-looking boy nodded at him, and Arthur released some of the tension he had been holding. He strode over to him. "Are you okay, lad? That was quite a hit you took this morning."

"Yeah, I'm fine. This one fixed my arm." He jerked his thumb back at a silver haired, violet eyed teen next to him that Arthur had never seen before. The teen was shifting around in his seat every so often, seemingly uncomfortable.

"Hello, my name is Arthur Kirkland." He held out his hand.

The teen gently put his out for a brief clasp, muttering, "Ice."

"Anyways, I need to talk to Antonio about a few more things, so if you don't mind, I'll excuse myself for a while." After patting the older one on the back, he walked back over to the bar and the two boys watched as he ordered a large tankard.

"Someone's in for a rough morning," Nor noted. He turned to Ice with his usual unreadable expression. "So, are you fond of drinking?"

"I'm seventeen-" he started, just in time to be cut off abruptly by a tall figure rushing over and wrapping themself around the person across the table (whom looked slightly irritated at the action).

"NOR! I'm so glad that you're alive, I thought we lost you!" he sobbed. In his opinion, Ice thought that his reaction was a bit overdramatic.

"I've been gone for five hours," Nor replied, not visibly paying any attention to the wild-haired man as he sat there.

Wiping a tear off his face with his sleeve, the man sniffled one last time. "I don't care, you could've been injured." Noticing his splint for the first time, his eyes widened. "Who broke your arm? Do you want me to get you something cold for it? I can go get some ice-"

A hand was slapped over his mouth. "No, I'm fine, so shut up. Anyways, this is Ice. Ice, this is Mathias."

The energetic man beamed at him. "Nice to meet you, Ice!" Instead of waiting for the younger one to reach his hand out, he just grabbed it off his lap and shook it. "I'm Nor's best friend. I assume you're one of Carriedo's men, huh?"

The intimidated teen sat there and nodded.

"Well then." He sat down at the third chair at the table. "Let's order us some drinks, that's what we're here for anyways!" he proclaimed, already forgetting that their reason for coming was due to other priorities.

"I'm still a minor." Ice stated.

"Pshhh, minors schminors. I'm getting three beers." Mathias folded his arms behind his head and leaned back in his chair, then called for a passing waitress to bring three bottles.

Nor stared at him disapprovingly. "Don't force the kid to drink alcohol."

Holding his hands up in defense, Mathias said, "Hey, I'm not forcing anyone to do anything here. But tonight's a celebration, so I'm just giving him an option: he can either have fun and enjoy the beer, or he can sit there and be a loser." He leaned in closer to Ice with a smile. "Which one are you gonna pick?"

The waitress came back in time with three of the requested drinks and set them down on the table. Mathias pushed one towards each of them. "It's not like anyone knows that you're underage, and even if they did they wouldn't care." He picked his up and drank about a quarter of it. "Ahhh, nothing beats a nice ale," he said contentedly. Nor sipped at his; not quite as endearingly as the other, but he seemed to enjoy it.  
Eyeing the bottle suspiciously, Ice carefully lifted it up. The two other guys watched attentively; Mathias with a successful grin, Nor with a raised eyebrow. He poured a little of the bubbling liquid into his mouth and instantly regretted it.

He struggled to swallow it, and when he finally did, he started coughing. He could hear Mathias laughing in the background. "Ugh," he groaned. "This is disgusting."

"Well, it got you to talk!" the man said happily. "Once our stubborn leader accepts this merger, I'm sure you'll be used to it."

Confused, Ice looked towards Nor for details. Catching his eye, Nor explained his words a little more clearly. "He holds a high dedication to alcohol. Luckily, the idiot has a high tolerance level."

"Speaking of tolerance levels…" Mathias had a devious smile on his face. Standing up he yelled, "Yo, Gil! You ready for that vodka competition?"

From his place at the bar with Matthew, he called back, "I was born ready, let's get it on!" Mathias was never one to turn down a challenge, and proudly strode over to the stool next to him where the blonde had just wisely hopped down from.

"Bartender, pour us a few rounds of vodka shots," requested the 'Gil' that the man called out to earlier. Ice stood a few feet away with Nor, watching as the match unfolded.

"Who do you think is going to win?" he asked.

The blonde shrugged. "I don't know. I'm pretty sure they're both aiming for eight though; Gilbert's also a heavy drinker."

Ice saw Mathias pick up a shot glass, and both men downed the small cup at the same time. He could see that they were trying to hold back pained expressions.

The man behind the counter poured another round, and down it went. By the sixth one, they were both cringing.

"You look like you could be passing out any second now," said Gilbert, grimacing.

"I could say the same for you," said Mathias. He really did look in worse shape, Ice noticed. He was holding onto his forehead with one hand, driving his knuckles into it in hopes to ease his headache.

They both lifted another round to their lips and drank the stinging liquid. They both stared into each other's eyes, daring their opponent to make the first move. In four seconds, Mathias was up and sprinting to the bathroom.

Nor watched him knowingly, completely unsympathetic. "Take that as a lesson. You overdrink, you puke. The next morning is the most painful part." At that moment, Ice vowed to never touch hard liquor until he was 25.

"I totally agree. Poor guy, he'll be a complete mess tomorrow." Ice jumped. _Oh yeah, _he remembered._ Alfred was here too._ The man walked up to them from the direction of the bathroom, where Ice presumed he just came from.

"So, are you both having fun- wait, Mattie?" Alfred stood there with a dumbstruck expression, staring at his twin meekly waving at him from the other side of the drinking champion, who was still being cheered for. As some random people from the bar were clapping for Gilbert, the two brothers looked at each other wistfully. Suddenly, Alfred was crying out "Mattie!" and rushed into his brother's embrace.

"I've missed you so much!" he said into the red hoodie of his violet eyed sibling.

Matthew chuckled timidly in reply. "As reassuring it is to hear that, you do remember that you were the one that left, right?"

Ignoring the last comment, Alfred continued with his clingy reunion. "I'm so glad that we're together again! Now we can go to McDonalds and watch hockey and play baseball and watch scary movies and-"

"I get it, you missed me." The longer haired one sighed. "I promise we'll go to McDonalds later. I have to get these guys home before they die from alcohol poisoning first, though. We can hang out until Antonio and Arthur finish their conversation." Then the two brothers walked away, Alfred with one arm over the other's shoulder and Matthew, embarrassed by his brother's ability to attract attention anywhere, but happy nonetheless.

Nor stepped up to the bartender and bought a coke, then brought it over to the table. Ice followed him and sat back down in his seat. "Here." He pushed the soda over to the younger boy. "I know you probably don't want to drink the beer. Also, it's compensation for fixing my arm."

"Oh, thanks… Nor." He pulled the tab back and drank it. In his opinion, soda was the better carbonated drink.

"No problem." Nor silently sat in his chair and glanced around the bar while Ice drank the coke and watched him. He turned back when he noticed that the boy was looking at him, who dropped his gaze to his lap. Concealing a grin, Nor remembered that their teams would work together from now on; he might as well learn a little bit about him. "Do you have any family you live with?"

Ice set the can down on the table. Looking up into his eyes, he replied. "No, not really. I'm orphaned. My comrades are kind of like my family though." He glanced away, and Nor noticed that he had a faraway look in his eyes. He knew that one all too well: he was lonely. "I have two friends back at the base. They're the closest to me, but they're more like a mom and dad," Ice continued.

"I was an orphan, but Mathias' family adopted me when I was really young. He's pretty much my brother." He watched as the boy across the table fiddled with the edge of the wood, suddenly taking a fascination in it.

"Hey guys. I'm back," said Mathias as he returned from the bathroom, feigning positivity. Soon enough though, he slumped over and let his head hit the hard tabletop. "I was so close to winning…" he mumbled.

"You had it coming, so don't complain," lightly reprimanded the most mature one at the table, flicking him on the side of the head. Crossing one leg on top of the other, Nor also decided to mention the new tidbit of information he gleaned from the shy boy at the table. "Oh, and did you know that Ice doesn't have any close friends or a brother?"

Ice straightened and looked at the other boy. His expression was a mix of anger, embarrassment, and hurt. Nor didn't intend for it to be that blunt, but the kid would understand soon enough.

Mathias perked up. "Is that so?" He smiled and inched his chair closer to the teen. "Well then, we'll just have to fix that, won't we Nor?"

The blonde just took another drink of his beer, which was not a sign of objection. "As much as I'd like to disagree, I'm with you on this one," he said, maintaining his stoic aura.

The teen in question furrowed his eyebrows and slightly cocked his head, indicating puzzlement.

Patting him gently on the head and giving him a sincere smile, Mathias spoke. "If you didn't get it already, we're making you our little bror. Bror is a Scandinavian word for brother." Surprised, Ice's mouth hung open a little as he gaped at the amused man. He turned his attention to Nor to see if he consented to it too, and he couldn't help but let the edges of his mouth curve up a little.

"You seem like a good kid. Plus, it would kind of suck if you ended up being raised by some obnoxious misguided guardians." Mathias took a swig out of Ice's unfinished beer, which was quickly snatched away by Nor.

"That would be devastating," he said sarcastically with a roll of his eyes as he set the bottle out of reach. Nor glanced at the young boy, who was still looking back and forth between his two new 'brothers'. He finally settled on looking at Mathias' now-facedown body.

Directing his question to the more conscious one, Ice asked, "Is he always like this?"

"You mean obnoxious and misguided? Yes."

"Hey, I resent that!" interjected a muffled voice.

"Are you ready to go home?" The three heard Arthur approach them. "I just talked things over with Antonio; tomorrow we're going to have a lunch with both teams to commemorate the new union." It was hard to tell what he really felt about it since he looked like he was about to fall over right there from exhaustion and drinking.

"It looks like Matthew's ready to go home," said Antonio beside him with a laugh. Ice agreed; the poor man was sitting through one of his twin's spiels about his next great heroic plan and looked like he'd take up any offer to leave at that moment.

"Matthew, are you ready to drive us home?" called out the Brit.

Immediately, the man sprung out of his chair, said a quick goodbye to his brother, then practically ran out the door. Snickering, Gilbert followed him, seemingly undaunted by any effects of the alcohol. Arthur and Alfred made eye contact for a few moments before the older one coughed nervously.

"Well then Antonio, it was a pleasure to meet with you today." The two captains shook hands.

"I enjoyed it too! I can't wait to see your whole team tomorrow for lunch!" he said enthusiastically with his ever-friendly smile.

Nor noticed Mathias' state and sighed. He pulled up on his shoulder to get the half-awake man out of his seat, then proceeded to drag him to the door. Nor angled his head and gave Ice a nod of farewell, and the team was soon gone from the building.

A pouty Alfred wandered over to him. "I don't think my brother was happy to see me," he said with a frown.

"No, I'm sure he was happy! Just tired," assured Antonio, patting him on the back. "It's time we get back too." The three started walking. "Haha, those people sure are an interesting group. It'll be fun to work with them!"

Ice shoved his hands in his pockets and followed the two men out the door, where they soon got in the car to go home.


	5. Chapter 5

**I'm really sorry it took me that long to update this chapter, but it was finals week, and we all know what that means. *cough* it was totally NOT Eurovision that distracted me *cough* Heh, at least tomorrow's my last day of class! I'll hopefully be able to update more frequently now. Thank you to the people who reviewed last chapter and especially theticktalks, my amazing beta who catches my mistakes and helps me to clarify stuff. She is Prussia-level awesome.**

**This chapter is kind of a Part 1 in that it kind of ends in the middle of something. More other characters stuff, and I hope I wrote Sweden better this time. Also, requests or ideas or suggestions or whatever you like to call them about the plot/pairing/characters are more than welcome. I could always take stuff like that, it makes it easier for me to decide what to do with the story. Plus, I really like to hear your input and all your feedback means a lot. Especially for Korea and Denmark- I have no idea what to do with them. Haha, some of you guys probably are going "CRACK PAIRING". But yeah, I don't know what to do. **

**Wisely-san- Glad you loved it :) And since I haven't been able to include those other characters (yet, i'm still figuring out how to work them in... suggestions? :D), yes, I will do as you requested. Hmmm, I do love a bit of crack thrown in a story... Yep, this is a NorIce, so I hope i'll be able to provide enough of it. Thank you for all the suggestions and stuff, it's really helpful. Mi3staR- Hopefully, that will be around the regular length of chapters. EUROVISION :D Maybe you'll like this chapter, I put some stuff like that in here (if you see it as flirting?). That is going to be saved for later, but it will be an important question.**

* * *

Ice sat at a table in the dining room munching on a banana and a piece of toast. Li Xiao and Yong Soo were also there, eating Pop Tarts. "Mmm, brown sugar cinnamon! My favorite!" exclaimed the Korean boy jubilantly as he attacked the icing-covered treat with his mouth. The brown-haired Chinese boy next to him was taking it slower, breaking off small pieces and eating them.

The adults were up getting coffee and various other breakfast items as the teenagers sat at their usual breakfast table. Yong Soo, already finished with his breakfast, put his hands on the table and leaned in towards his two friends. "So, I was thinking that today after breakfast we can go to the training room and work out or something on the-"

"Don't forget about that lunch we have to go to with Kirkland's team," Li Xiao reminded.

"Awww, I wanted to race you guys," Yong Soo pouted. He seemed to suddenly get an idea and sprang out of his chair. "Actually, I have a better plan, da ze!" he ran over to Antonio and started to speak to him. Ice saw his boss laugh, and then look over to him and the other boy at the table. He said something back, and Yong Soo fist pumped.

Skipping back to his now interested friends, he grinned. "Guess what?"

"You and Francis made a pact to stop groping people," said Li Xiao, as devoid of emotion as usual.

"Nope! We're cleaning the dining hall after breakfast!" he stated proudly.

Ice glowered at the Korean boy. "We aren't involved in whatever you did this time."

"But you guys don't even know what I have in mind!" he whined. "You'll see when we start. Now where to find the cleaning supplies…" He wandered off with his thumb positioned thoughtfully on his chin.

Ice sighed. He knew what kind of things his friend was capable of getting them dragged into, and learned from personal experience that he would rather stay out of them. It's not like he had anything else to do though, so he figured he might as well help out. It's cleaning: how bad could that get?

"How're Kirkland's group?" asked Li Xiao, the two of them now alone at the table.

"I only met two of them."

"So, was one of them the person you guys brought back?" he inquired, leaning back in his chair.

"Yeah, that's Nor. Mathias was the other one who got drunk," replied Ice.

"YOU GUYS, I FOUND THE CLEANING-" The sound of many things falling over could be heard coming from the side closet next to the kitchen. "…closet."

Li Xiao turned his head to glance at the closet with various cleaning supplies now scattered everywhere and the struggling teen wearing an oversized jacket trying to escape from the contents of said closet. "I'll go help him." The Chinese boy got out of his chair to pull out his friend, Ice following behind him.

After being freed, Yong Soo dusted himself off. "Okay, what do we need to get?"

"It depends on what we're cleaning," said Ice, eyeing the new addition to their chore list.

"Just floors and tabletops!"

Ice picked up a yellow bottle and a bucket. He grabbed a few rags off of a shelf and an all-purpose solution spray bottle and then set it on the ground. He and the other boys rearranged the closet, then went back to the now-deserted dining room.

Yong Soo quickly sprayed the tables with the disinfectant. When Ice made a move to wipe it off, he said, "Wait, don't do that yet!" He pulled all six circular tables into three columns and two rows. Then, he ran over to get a rag and stood at the end of one. The other boys also got rags and copied him.

"Okay, rules: You have to completely wipe the tables down, if there's anything left on them when you get to the end, you're out. You have to finish both tables and pick up the broom at the end."

Ice looked at him and mentally facepalmed. "You mean you're turning this into a game?"

"C'mon, it's fun, da ze! Winner gets dignity points." He readied himself, the others giving in and doing the same. "On go. One, two, three, GO!"

All three took off, hands outstretched towards their first table. Ice quickly whipped the blue cloth back and forth in a zigzag motion, getting off some of the cleaner. Going 90 degrees around the table, he did the same thing until there was nothing but the polished surface left. While sprinting to the next one, he noticed Li Xiao ahead of him starting on his second one. Yong Soo was finishing the first one (he was fairly sure that he heard a Korean curse word slip out somewhere), so he had a chance. Repeating the same motion as last time, the table was clean in seconds. He started running towards the broom on the other end of the room.

Li Xiao may have been a fast cleaner, but his running wasn't as fast as Ice's. In a matter of seconds, they were matched. They could hear Yong Soo shouting, "Wait up you guys!" in the back. _Almost there_, he thought, when a small puddle of water came into his view. He realized it too late, and fell on his back.

Once he was on the ground, he sucked in a breath. "Dammit Yong Soo..." he moaned. He heard footsteps nearing him. Cracking an eye open, he saw a hand held out to him.

Assuming it was the Korean, he was going to ignore it when he heard them say, "You're clumsy." That wasn't his voice.

He fully opened his eyes, which got wider once he realized who it was. "N-Nor?"

The blonde boy still had one of his hands held out, the other hanging by his side in the splint. He hesitantly put his hand out, unsure if the other would be able to heft him up. Nor pulled him off the ground with ease, and then put his hand comfortably in his pocket. "When did you get here?" Ice asked him.

"I think you mean 'we'," a voice from next to him corrected. "And it was just in time to see you fall over on your ass. Smooth." Mathias laughed, leaning his elbow on the younger boy's shoulder.

"Are you okay?" Nor questioned.

"Yeah, I'm fine," he replied nonchalantly. The blonde stepped over to him and dusted something off his shoulder, and he flinched slightly.

"Awww, you're scared of Nor? That's okay, it happens to me too sometimes!"

"No." Ice used his finger and prodded Mathias' arm until it was off of him. "I don't like being touched."

He grinned at him. "I'll make sure to keep that in mind." To Ice, that looked more like a 'going to use it against him one day' smile.

"So, what're you kids up to?" asked the tall boy.

"We're having cleaning competitions!" shouted Yong Soo jubilantly.

Instead of laughing about it like Ice thought he would, Mathias' eyes lit up. "That sounds fun, can I join?"

"Sure! Oh, I'm Yong Soo and this is Li Xiao." The second boy nodded in acknowledgment, silently watching from the sidelines.

"Mathias." The two more energetic people shook hands.

"My name's Nor." He did the same with Li Xiao. "I'm Ice's older brother." Walking over to the wary-looking Ice, he put his arms protectively around his shoulder.

The young boy froze, then tried to tug out of his grip. He was held firmly in place. "Isn't that right, little brother?" he asked with a hint of amusement.

"I never agreed to that," the silver-haired teen muttered.

"Awww, I think little Ice is in denial," cooed Mathias, ruffling his hair.

Ice slapped his hand away and then glared at his other 'older brother'. Well, he knew other peoples' older brothers liked to mess with them, why would it be any different with these two? "Let's just clean the floors," he said dryly.

Yong Soo, trying to cover up his laughs from next to Li Xiao, finally calmed down. Smiling, he said, "Okay, after we move the tables, grab a broom, then line up over on that wall!" He pointed to the starting wall and then skipped over to a table.

He grunted, trying to drag it to one side of the room, but lacked the strength. His Chinese friend decided to assist him, and went to the opposite side. "You know, it helps if the weight is equally balanced and you pick it up off the ground so there isn't any friction between the table and floor."

"Whatever."

Once that was set, all 4 boys were lined up against the wall (with Nor watching from the sidelines). "Just like last time," called out Yong Soo. "Get everything in your row, first one to get to the wall on the other side wins." Ice noticed it was a long distance, much longer than the tables, so this would take a while to get everything on the way there. "One, two, three, GO!"

They all started sweeping; dirt, dust, and trash were pushed along with them as they inched towards the end. The competitive but calm atmosphere didn't last for long.

It all began when Yong Soo's broom handle hit Mathias'. Assuming it was intentional, he swung the stick aimed at the teen's legs, who jumped just in time to dodge it. Both of them, with feral grins, struck handles at the same time, and the fight was on. Ice was fine with quietly sneaking ahead in the race, but soon found two brooms held up horizontally, blocking either side of him. "Wouldn't want you to miss out on the fun," taunted Mathias deviously.

"I don't want to," rejected Ice flatly. He turned around to continue sweeping and was promptly jabbed in the back. "I already said- Li Xiao?" Whoever the agitator was had ceased their annoying poking and turned to face the Chinese boy.

Ice was met with the sight of his roommate unscrewing the brush off of the wooden pole, and then deftly twirled it between his fingers to test its weight. Maintaining his expressionless face, he supplied them with the answer to their questioning gazes. "Usually at this time, I'm in the room practicing martial arts. I'd use a wooden stick either way."

"Cool, so we're going to have one of those fights like in those Asian movies?" asked Mathias with interest.

"Sure," Li Xiao shrugged.

"I'm all for it!" he accepted.

"That is, if Yong Soo doesn't get himself knocked out in the first few seconds." Li Xiao began studying his nails distractedly.

"Hah, well, as you should all know, strength originated in Korea, so of course I'm going to beat all of you," scoffed Yong Soo. He began to unscrew the head of his broom (as well as Mathias), and soon the two were near each other in the center of the room.

"Uh huh," said the dark brown haired boy sarcastically. He joined them, and soon turned around to the quiet boy who was watching them from off to the side. "Ice, you joining?"

"Of course he is!" beckoned Mathias; then seeing his brother's defiant gaze, strode over to him and dragged the struggling teen towards his friends.

"Alright, no faces or crotch area, and all contact has to be with the stick," said Li Xiao. He took his stance, bending his knees and holding the wooden pole in front of him.

"Wait, those are the only rules?" interjected Ice, getting up from the floor where Mathias had dropped him.

"Yep," replied his roommate, who then swung his pole at Ice's abdomen.

He managed to hop back almost in time, so it barely touched the side of him as he avoided it. Figuring that there was no way out of it, Ice darted over to his abandoned broom. He held it up horizontally just in time to block Li Xiao's next strike, then slipped it under his arm and hit him on the chest. He seemed momentarily surprised at Ice's tactic, but went back to his normal expression quickly. Lunging forward, he scored a hit on the smaller teen's upper shoulder, who then flinched backwards.

They exchanged a few blows back and forth in a dance-like fashion across the floor. Out of his peripheral vision, Ice saw the energetic forms of the other two fighters hopping around and carelessly throwing around their attacks, mostly taunting each other back and forth with claims and retorts. Focusing back on his opponent, Ice tried to take a stab at his legs, but it was easily avoided. Li Xiao was winning as he had scored more hits than Ice, but that was to be expected as martial arts was his area of specialty, and he was more than experienced in it.

Ice noticed that the two pairs were beginning to converge, getting closer with every step they took. Soon enough, they were side by side, parallel. Standing next to Yong Soo, he could hear as the spirited boy mouthed off to the tall blonde. "Oh, really? Well, I think that Wii is better than a PS3. I mean, you can't get any of the Nintendo games on it." _Wait, what?_

He didn't have much time to think about that though, because Mathias had decided to switch targets. The man appeared at his side with a grin. "That guy's fun and all, but I wanted to have a chance with you." He grimaced. _This should be interesting._

Ice swung the stick at Mathias' shoulder, thinking that he would move out of the way, and he could get him when he's open. Surprisingly though, Mathias didn't notice it, and let out a groan when he felt it come in contact with him. Fueled by the attack, Mathias picked up his fighting instrument and held it close to him much like one would hold a baseball bat. "I'll just tell you know, I'm not going to go easy on you!" Ice stated. Mathias pulled his arms back, and then took a swing at him. Ice sidestepped, and then whacked him on his thigh.

"I'm just warming up," Mathias said in defense when he saw Ice smiling, probably in result of him already being hit twice. When the younger one stepped up to hit his shoulder again, he was prepared. Mathias turned his body, and the unsuspecting boy stumbled forward. Taking this short window of opportunity, he slammed the middle of his weapon into Ice's back, and the lightweight boy easily fell over with a small cry. Unfortunately, in doing that, Mathias shifted his weight a little bit too much to the side, and he fell over too. He was about to fall on top of the silver-haired boy splayed on the ground, but stuck out his hands to either side of him as support.  
Both ended up in an awkward position with their bodies close together. Mathias either had no concept of personal space or was just extremely ignorant of the atmosphere, but he didn't look like he had any problems with their current situation; even more, he did not look like he had any intention of getting up soon, much to Ice's chagrin. Ocean blue eyes examined his own. "You know, you're pretty cute."

A large blush spread across the pale boy's face. "W-what?" he stuttered. He looked around to see if anyone could help him, but couldn't see around the large body directly above him. His futile attempts at pushing him off with his meager strength went almost unnoticed as the blonde chuckled.

"I think that we'll have a lot of fun, you and-" Suddenly, Mathias was lying next to him, moaning and rubbing the side of his waist.  
"Pervert. While I'm here with you, I'm not going to let you go around hitting on little kids." Nor stared down at the man with a look of disapproval and placed his foot back on the ground. Ice stood up and brushed the dirt off his clothes.

"Thanks," he muttered.

"No problem," Nor said, looking into Ice's eyes. His stare wasn't like Mathias'; this one was almost like he was looking for something concealed deep in his eyes. Ice wondered if that happened every time someone made eye contact with Nor. Maybe it was just him.

Feeling slightly uncomfortable, Ice shifted around. "So…" He internally cursed his conversation skills.

"Don't pay him any attention, he thrives off of it," informed the other blonde.

"Are you implying that you don't want me to live?"

Nor prodded the tall man sitting on the floor with his shoe again. "If you want me to say it outright, I have no problems with that either."

"Whatever. Ice loves me anyways, right?" Mathias looked up into his eyes, trying to make himself look as desperate as he could.

"Uh, sure," Ice supplied.

"No you don't," corrected his other brother.  
"Nor!" whined Mathias. "I know you don't mean that, it's okay." He pulled all three of them into a hug. Ice winced and tried to pull away.

"You stay," said both of the older ones simultaneously, pulling him closer to emphasize their point. After a few moments, they released him.

The teen remembered his two other friends and looked around the room, finally spotting Li Xiao with his head resting in the palm of his hand and Yong Soo sitting in a chair, bending over and emitting groans. Walking over, he questioned them warily. "What happened?"

The Korean's head shot up, his face contorted into one of pain. "He said the rules were that we can't hit anyone's head or their crotch area, and guess what he did, da ze!" cried the boy.

Still looking off through the window, Li Xiao supplied dryly with, "Accident's happen." Although the teen watching the scene knew that he probably did it to amuse himself.

"That was deliberate!" replied Yong Soo agitatedly.

"Was not."

"Was too!"

"You're acting like a child."

"Says the person who just kicked me in the balls!" Yong Soo shouted back, throwing his hands in the air.

"Is everything okay in here?" asked a British voice. All of them turned to a door and saw Arthur peeking in, a concerned look on his face.

"Yup, we're fine! Just hanging out like the good boys we are," said Mathias sweetly, patting Ice on the head, to which he responded by slapping it away and then walking to stand on the other side of Nor. Li Xiao and Yong Soo were in the middle of a staring contest.

"Antonio asked me to check up on your cleaning progress," he told them.

"Oh yeah, that!" exclaimed Yong Soo, standing up from the chair. "We kind of got distracted and ended up fighting, so we never got to finish."

"What? Mathias!" Arthur sent a glare towards the sheepish boy. "Can you never act like a responsible person?"

"Heh, sorry." He grinned. "Everyone's fine now, don't worry."

The man sighed. "Just get it finished soon and stay out of trouble. Knowing your behavior, I'm not actually sure if that will be accomplished. I'll see all of you at lunch." He stepped out and closed the door.

"He seems kinda stressed," commented the Korean.

"It probably has something to do with Alfred. They have a history," informed the shorter blonde.

"Burger freak?" chirped in Li Xiao.

"Yeah, that one; Mr. Egotist. On the way in here, he told us that he was the hero of this establishment," said Mathias. "When I told him to join the Avengers, he said that they kicked him out because compared to his rate of productivity, everyone else's work was reduced to the level of interns."

"I wonder how many new nicknames he's going to get…" pondered Yong Soo out loud.

Clearing his throat, Ice caught everyone's attention so they could change the subject and possibly get something done. "Shouldn't we finish sweeping?"

"Oh yeah, forgot about that." Yong Soo screwed his broom back together and began sweeping a corner of the room, the others soon following.

The cleaning was done, and the two Asian boys had to go. "Sorry we can't hang out with you guys much more, we told Antonio that we would help him cook too!" explained Yong Soo.

"It's no problem. Just don't let Arthur cook!"

The Korean tilted his head to the side in slight confusion. "Why?"

"His cooking is inedible," said Nor simply. "He can boil water, and that's pretty much his limit."

"Okay, I'll keep that in mind," Yong Soo noted.

"I'll see you around, Ice," acknowledged the Chinese boy.

"Later." He nodded back at him.

"Nice meeting both of you!" waved Mathias. "We'll see you at lunch."

"Yes, thanks for putting up with him," said Nor dryly.

"Bye!" They both waved, Yong Soo with his oversized jacket sleeves flapping around, then exited the room.

"I like them," stated Mathias.

"You have some interesting friends," commented Nor.

Ice shook his head in agreement. "I'm sure you'll see plenty of them in the future. They're likely to show up out of nowhere."

Mathias folded his arms behind his head and leaned back against the wall. "So, what can we do for the next two hours?"

"Well, I could give you guys a tour. Not really much to see," Ice suggested.

Nor and Mathias stood up. "Sounds good. Lead the way, little bro," said the taller one.

Ice opened a door leading outside to a breezeway and began walking down it. "This leads to the lounge." He opened the door at the end of the hallway, and the trio entered the large room.

"Sweet!" Mathias ran ahead and flopped down onto one of the leather sofas. "Damn, this is comfortable." He glanced around the room, and then acquired a large grin.

Ice sighed, "Yes, we have a mini bar."

"I love this place," Mathias said, his voice muffled through the pillow he was resting on. Since it seemed like he was going to just lay there for a while, Ice chose to follow around Nor, who was inspecting the room.

Nor's splinted arm hung uncomfortably against his side. "Does it hurt?" Ice asked him.

"No, it's fine. It'll probably be off in a week or so." He adjusted its position, and then asked him a question in return. "What do you like to do in your free time?"

He shrugged, "Not much. I guess read."

"Is that it?" The older looked at him, eyebrows slightly raised with his usual straight face. "Aren't you school aged?"

"Yes, but we have textbooks and stuff from Antonio, so we aren't too far behind."

Nor thought about it for a second. "I see," he said. They both looked out the window at the deserted field in perfect view of them and the clear skies that stretched on with good weather for as far as they could see. "How old are you?"

_Why all the questions?_ Ice wondered, but answered anyways. "17." _He's probably 24 or something._

Almost as if he was reading his mind, Nor replied as his eyes trained on a lone bird flying in circles far above the ground. "I thought so. I'm only three years older than you."

"What?" Ice was shocked, he was only 20? He acted much older.

"Yeah, him too." Nor jerked a thumb back at Mathias, who popped up from the cushions.

"Are we going to the next place now?"

To answer him, the youngest one pushed open another door to a room that was walled off from the rest of the lounge, but still a part of the building. "It's the conference room, so it's just chairs and tables. Not much to see." Ice was wondering why there weren't people from Arthur's group anywhere but these two hanging out with him. "Where is everyone else from your group?" he asked them, looking questioningly at Nor.

"We're the only ones who came," he said with his arms still crossed. "They were just going to show up for the lunch, but we decided to come with Arthur."

Mathias had gotten off the couch and walked between them. "I thought that you would be worried about me after last night, so I had to make my way over as soon as I could. Didn't want you to be scared!" he said with a large smile.

Nor snorted. "Please. If I hadn't woken you up, you'd probably be asleep right now."

"You're both weird," muttered the silver haired boy as he crossed the floor rug, which spanned a large length of the room. He ended up outside and waited for the other two to join him. Pointing off to a large building that was short but had a lot of floor space, he told them, "That's the residential area."

Between them, there was a covered awning with a few black SUV's. "Transportation," he said simply. They walked past the sleeping quarters a ways, and then made a left until they were on the other side of the dining hall. "That's the training room," he said about the large building behind the mass of greenery, but focusing on the flora in front of them. They had reached Ice's favorite place. Walking towards the congregation of flowers, trees, stone benches, and various other plants, he explained to them, "This is the courtyard. Not many people actually use it, but it's a good place if you're looking for a quiet environment."

A bed of flowers with some sunflowers was in the corner. They were giant, probably half as tall as either of the older boys. Five big oak trees were planted in various locations, stone benches placed underneath them so they could provide shade on sunny days. There were also pots of random plants scattered throughout the whole thing, bright and colorful flowers adding splashes of color to the sea of green. A few birdhouses were set up, finches and sparrows flitting in and out of them. "Spring is a nice season," remarked Mathias, peacefully observing the nature. There was also a bird bath, a few birds splashing around in it. The teen was grateful that Antonio had set aside space to build this. It was the best place to relax, and served as an amazing reading spot.

"Yeah," commented Nor, but he was looking around at the buildings that surrounded it. Not many people really cared about this place, but maybe that was part of the reason Ice liked it so much. There was something about having something as magical as nature to yourself, only shared with whatever visiting animals would pop by.

"That's pretty much the whole place," Ice finished.

"It's similar to ours, at least in what types of buildings it has," said the oldest. "You should totally come visit us soon!"

Two voices floated over to them. "H've y' seen 'ny of 'em yet?" asked a deep voice.

"No, they're supposed to be coming around noon," a gentler one replied. "I wonder what they're going to be like," it said thoughtfully. The three looked around for the source, which was soon revealed. Tino and Berwald turned a corner as they walked around the courtyard from the sleeping quarters. The smaller man looked confusedly at the two strangers for a few moments, then a look of comprehension came over his face and he smiled. Walking towards them, he extended his hand. "Hello, I'm Tino, and this is Berwald! I assume you're both from Mr. Kirkland's team?"

Mathias stepped up. "Yeah, I'm Mathias. I'm Ice's older brother," he said proudly and shook the offered hand.

"You just love saying that, don't you?" asked Ice, glaring at him from the side.

"You'd better get used to it," Mathias said with a wink.

"My name's Nor. I know him," he stated, pointing at Mathias, "and I'm his brother," pointing at Ice.

"W'll, Tino's m' w'fe." Berwald put one hand on the shoulder of the shorter man protectively, who nervously chuckled.

"Berwald, how many times do I have to say that I'm not your wife? I'm a guy."

"D'snt matt'r," Berwald said.

Tino sighed, but gave in nonetheless. "Anyways, what're you guys up to?"

Mathias replied. "He showed us around, now we're just hanging out here."

"Ah, I see. Well, we were just going to head into the training room to get some exercise done before it gets too hectic around here. You three can accompany us if you'd like!"

"Can we?" The wild haired 20 year old looked expectantly at Ice.

"Why does it matter to me?"

"Because I'll need to borrow your clothes."

"Just go in what you have now!"

"But Ice," Mathias whined. "I don't want to mess up my good clothes."

Ice turned away from him and crossed his arms. "I doubt anything would fit you anyways," he mumbled.

"I can find something. Please?" Mathias pleaded.

Looking back, Ice saw his face. Not being able to say no, he finally said, "Fine."

"Cool, thanks bro!"

Nor stood up from where he was sitting on a bench reading the news on his iPhone. "I'll go with you both, I want to see your room."

"We'll meet up after I get him some clothes," said Ice to Tino.

He smiled brightly next to Berwald. "Alright, we'll be there! See you soon." The pair continued to the building further down, and the trio watched as they entered the exercise room.

"This way." Ice headed over to the larger building where all the residents slept and had their rooms, going to his and Li Xiao's, the two other boys following him.

"Hey Nor, I bet you'd look nice in some Nike shorts." Soon after that remark, Ice heard a slap.

"Owww…"

"Shut up Mathias."


	6. Chapter 6

**This one is a bit shorter than usual, but there's more Iceland with Norway. I have all the pairings sorted out too. Did anyone else hear the 45 seconds of utter happiness that was released this past week (AKA The Nordic 5 song sneak peek)? THAT WAS AMAZING, I THINK I LISTENED TO IT 10 TIMES IN A ROW. It completely made my day, I can't wait until the whole thing is released. If anyone wants the download link, I can get it to you somehow, so just message me if you don't have it.**

**Hmmm, I was definitely going to put something else important in this AN...it completely escapes me though... Anyways, hope that you guys enjoy the chapter!**

**Mi3staR- XD Random fangirling moment. I KNOW, I loved that song. I wrote an essay about it in English for my major grade. Does that mean you get to go to Eurovision? If you are... I'm so jealous, my live streaming kept messing up! Yeah, that's my headcanon's way of having Denmark mess with them, but this is a NorIce story, so no worries. He doesn't actually have any other intentions besides trying to toy with them. :) Wisely-san- I COULDN'T VOTE BECAUSE I'M AMERICAN T_T I loved that song though, it was definitely in my favorites. Tell me your suggestions, it'll give me an idea of what the readers want and what to do! I had no idea what was going to happen in this chapter when I wrote it, so I spent a lot of time just staring at the screen. Glad you enjoyed it!**

* * *

The boy stuck the keys in the door's lock, turned them, and pushed the door open. Once he was in, he held the door open for the excited tall blonde and the other boy who had a bored expression. Mathias began to walk around the room examining the space that Ice and Li Xiao shared, observing the things adorning their walls. "I didn't know you were into My Chemical Romance." He grinned at the smaller boy. "You don't seem like the punk rock type."

Ice shrugged and opened a drawer, pulling out a pair of black basketball shorts. He shut it, and then dug around for a large t-shirt. He turned around and began to tell him, "The bathroom's down the hall-" when he noticed that the other had already stripped down to his underwear, and was in the process of taking off his shirt. "Do you have no sense of privacy?" he asked, immediately facing away and tossing the clothing items behind his back to the other.

"It's not like I'm completely naked," he said in defense of himself.

"Whatever, just change," Ice mumbled under his breath, lying face down on his blue comforter with the red and white stripes intersecting at various angles. He felt the bed sink down on the other end; it was Nor, probably sitting down. Ice inhaled deeply a few times, reveling in the short break that he finally was able to get.

"What's this?" Ice reluctantly pulled away from the warmth and softness of the sheets and glanced over to Nor to see what he was asking about. He made a grab for the item in his hands, but the blonde just turned his shoulders and he missed.

"None of your business," he said. Nor smiled at him with one of _his_ smiles; the ones that meant he was amused, and seemed to always tease whoever it was directed at.

"A puffin stuffed animal? Don't you think you're a little too old for this thing?" Nor held it in front of his face, examining it, all the while holding the other boy back who was making attempts to snatch it away from him.

Ice glared at him. With a final push, Nor's arm slipped and he quickly grabbed the bird plush. He leaned it against his pillow then protectively sat himself directly in front of it. Still shooting him daggers, he replied with a simple, "No."

Mathias watched their exchange with interest as he stood there in the younger boy's clothing. Surprisingly, they weren't tight. Apparently, Ice didn't like to wear form-fitting clothes_. Too bad_, he thought. _That kid could probably pull off skinny jeans pretty well._ He'd have to fix that the next time he plans to drag some people down to the mall with him.

Ice looked up and seeing that Mathias was fully clothed at this point, got up and strode to the door.

The tallest, in an attempt at comfort, placed his hand on Ice's shoulder. "Don't mind him, he still believes in fairies and trolls and stuff, so you can probably make up some joke about fantasy creatures and stuff not being real."

"They are real," came Nor's voice, arrogantly annoyed.

"Seriously Norge, this is why you barely made any friends in middle school. The only ones who actually believed in that crap along with you was that weird Romanian kid and the exchange student from New Zealand."

"Please, that was because we were the only ones that could actually see it. No one of your intellect would ever be close to understanding," Nor said, one hand shoved in his pocket while he started directly ahead at the annoyed teen and obnoxious man messing with him.

"I love you anyways, no matter how strange you are."

"Stop being annoying."

The trio made it to the exercise room with little difficulty. They located Tino spotting Berwald, who was using the bench press. He gave them one of his sunny smiles, and then waved them over. Still carefully paying attention to the man easily lifting and lowering the bar, he said, "I'm glad that you guys could make it. Nor, Mathias; you're welcome to use whatever equipment you feel up to."

Mathias examined the blonde laying vertically for a few moments, posed with his fingers on his chin. He finally asked, "How much are you doing?"

"165," he grunted out, trying to ignore him.

"Hmmm…" He then turned to Nor. "Spot me?"

"Considering that spotting entails actually being able to lift things and my arm's still fractured, I'd have to pass," he said without regret.

"Ice, buddy," Mathias said smoothly. "Spot me for a few reps?"

Ice glanced over at Nor, who had taken a seat on a bench and was reading a fitness magazine. "Sure. Only for a bit though." The other fist pumped and quickly took his place on the cushioned exercise equipment.

"How much?" asked Ice, walking over to the weights station.

"Two 50's and a couple of 10's." In three trips, Ice had brought them over, shooting Mathias a glare for not assisting him with the carrying. Mathias loaded 110 pounds of the metal rings onto the ends, and then proceeded to lie down and grasp the bar. He began counting, Ice hovering over him with his hands poised to grab the bar if it slipped.

"I can go 10 more on each side, no problem," he said, sending a challenging smirk over to Berwald. He just grimaced and focused on his reps, the tension between them gradually developing into a competition.

After Mathias had worked up to 145, he was sweating profusely and finally put down the bar. "Whoo, that was a nice workout. I'm just warming up though." Immediately, both men sprang to the treadmills.

Tino just looked up surprised to the tall, built man and said "…Su-san?", then decided to join him on the large grey machine next to his. Ice had never figured out where that nickname came from, he'd have to ask him about it one day.

With nothing else to do, Ice joined the blonde reading the magazine on the wooden bench. He idly kicked his feet back and forth, making an attempt to pass the time without making much of a disturbance. _Hmmm_, maybe he'd text Li Xiao or something. He whipped out his iPhone and began messaging the other.

_- what're you doing? Im in the exercise room rite now._

In a matter of seconds, he received a reply.

_-Helping Bella cut some stuff up with Yong Soo. Alfred and Abel are gonna grill it later._

_-its so boring here_

_-We could always use more child labor in the kitchen._

_-ill pass._

Ice set his phone down next to him and sighed, leaning his head back.

"Do you know them well?" asked Nor, still looking at his magazine. It was with disinterest though, as he felt that fitness magazines were quite dull. He would have rather read Reader's Digest.

"Berwald and Tino?"

"Yeah. The tall guy doesn't seem to like Mathias too much, but not many people do." It did _not_ look like he liked Mathias: they we're both pouring sweat, he in his white tank and Mathias with his shirt sleeves rolled up. Tino was jogging lightly at a much slower pace, watching the two adult's behavior questioningly.

"Are they in a relationship?"

"Uh, probably." Ice never actually asked them, but he, along with everyone else, had just assumed so. It was always obvious when Berwald was protective about Tino, how they were always together, how they shared a room where _anything _could happen- okay, he skipped over that thought. The last time he found one of Li Xiao's doujinshi's was the last time he ever cleaned his side of the room. The images…he shook his head to rid himself of the unchaste thoughts.

"Hmmm." Nor continued perusing the magazine, which was becoming blander looking as Ice stared at the cover. The teen let out a sigh of boredom; he never came here unless he was following the two Asian boys to do some light work, which they only did to make up for all the nights that they would spend playing Wii and Xbox while snacking on pizza and sodas.

"Do you have a girlfriend?"

"Why do you want to know?" Ice asked warily.

"I just do."

"No. Do you?"

"Maybe." The younger boy's body jolted and he stared at him in shock. Nor? A girlfriend?

He heard a laugh from off to the side, and saw Mathias pointing at the unperturbed boy next to him while still snickering, his face lit up in amusement. "Nah, he's just messing with you. Seriously, you think that he'd be able to score a chick?" He continued his laughter, a bit of a challenge due to his other current activity.

"Like you'd be able to do any better," returned Nor.

"I can too!"

"Whatever."

Ice deadpanned. Was he really the most mature out of the three of them? He slipped on a pair of earbuds and leaned back, selecting a track under Good Charlotte. Slowly getting drowsy, he dropped out of consciousness in a matter of minutes.

Ice felt someone shake his leg. _Oh, right. __I fell asleep_. He yawned._ Stupid teenage circadian rhythm._ After stretching out his legs and arms from the uncomfortable position, he opened his eyes. The four others were standing, Mathias much closer than the others, which made Ice suspect that he was the one who woke him

.  
"It's 11:30, us 3 are going to take a quick rinse before lunch. You guys save us seats, alright?" Mathias asked, referring to the other two sweaty men behind him. Ice nodded in reply. They began to walk away, and he heard a snippet of their conversation as Tino told him that he looked nice in his shorts, to which Mathias beamed at proudly. Ice saw him flash a smile and saying something, undoubtedly narcissistic about his ass. Ice didn't miss Berwald's cold stare eyeing him as Tino laughed at his antics.

Ice stood up from the bench, and Nor walked over to him. "Lead the way," he said casually, and they exited the room side-by-side.

The two walked over to the courtyard and decided to cut through it to get to the dining room. As they strolled through, a painted terra cotta pot caught the eye of the analytical blonde. He slowed down, and then bent down on one knee. "You painted this," he said, more of a statement than a question. It was a scene of a simple sailboat on the sea, but the swirls of color and depth brought it to life. It was as if the small ant sized figures and old wooden hull of the ship was being seen from the point of view of an islander. The skies had just the right blend of white and blue acrylic paint, fluffy clouds interspersed throughout the sky.

Ice nodded silently from off to the side. It was something he had worked on a couple of years ago when they had renovated this place. He wanted to do more than just help with the plants, and he felt that it was a fitting contribution to this garden. He had a small collection of acrylic paints in his room from one of his birthdays a while back, and when he felt like it, he would take it out and paint some things. It was always in quiet settings, something he could do easily instead of just reading on his bed.

The man got up and fixed him with a gaze indicating that he was slightly impressed. "I never would've guessed that you were the painting type." He began walking again, and Ice quickly caught up. "I'm learning a lot about you today."

Ice felt that he should probably say something, and there _was_ something that had been on his mind for a while. "What about you?"

"What about me?"

"What do you like to do?" They walked quietly for a while, then Nor spoke.

"I play the violin. Mathias' Dad gave me his after he tried to teach the idiot, but he was never interested, so it was passed to me. I still have it." They made it to the hall, already bustling with people. Since Ice spotted some people that he had never seen before, he assumed that the rest of the other team had finally made their appearance. As an afterthought as he opened the door, Nor added, "I'll show you one day."

They became mixed in with the large mass of people chatting around the circular tables set up around the room. There was enough space for everyone to sit at one of the tables in a group of either four or five. The boys took a seat at one in the back, away from the bustle of the other people in the room.

There was no sign of Li Xiao or Yong Soo, but Ice was fascinated enough with watching the newcomers that he didn't bother to look for his friends too long. He spotted Antonio with Lovino, being their usual selves. That pretty much meant that Lovino was acting peeved, while the taller brunet took everything that he threw at him in stride. They were conversing with Arthur, Francis, and another man. He had cropped blonde hair and an angry, serious face. The fact that he was still in uniform didn't help Ice's first impression of him either. The man kept glancing over to a young girl in a light pink tank top and white skinny jeans with similar hair but a much gentler face, who was idly texting someone on her phone.

"That's Vash and Lily Zwingli," pointed out Nor. "They're siblings. I don't suggest that you get within a 5 foot radius of his sister unless you want to be shot." Ice took that at face value and made a mental not to approach her anytime soon, not like he was planning to anyways.

Figuring that he might as well name the rest of the others to the kid, Nor pointed at each teammate as he said their name and a quick description. "You already know Matthew, Alfred's brother. He's friends with Gilbert, the undisciplined pale one who acts like an asshole."

He found the next group composed of Roderich and a brunette with long curly hair, both of whom were chatting casually with Bella. As always, her bubbly personality had brightened up the atmosphere. Even the aristocrat didn't look as annoyed as he usually did, Ice noticed. "Elizabeta. She's a nice woman, but I've seen her act strangely in more than a few situations."

"Toris," Nor said dryly. "One of the only sane ones. Over there," he nudged his shoulder in the direction of the last two unnamed people. "are Kiku and Yao. They're smart and also aren't as insane as most of the people in this room."

Ice rolled his eyes. "Thanks for the thorough explanation," he responded.

"If you want an unbiased opinion, then stop being antisocial and go talk to them," Nor advised.

Ice settled back into his chair. "I'm good."

At that moment, the other three appeared looking clean and refreshed. "You guys miss me?" called out Mathias.

"Oh look, it's back," said Nor, not sparing his friend a single glance.

"Awww, I knew you did. By the way, thanks for the clothes Ice!" Mathias tossed the bundle of sweaty clothes across the table to the boy, who made a disgusted face and promptly chucked the foul-smelling exercise clothes underneath his chair. Mathias took a seat next to Nor, and Tino sat to Ice's left. Berwald, with no choice, was left with sitting between Tino and Mathias, whom he made an effort to ignore.

Tino, with a loose white v-neck and cargo pants, told him with a chuckle, "You have an interesting choice in friends. Where'd you pick this one up?" He motioned over to Mathias, who was trying to get Berwald to have an arm wrestling contest. The bigger man was making it pointedly obvious that he was not going to participate, holding his book out at a comfortable length, resting it on the table.

"A bar," Ice informed simply.

"I would never have guessed."

At the sound of someone's call-to-attention whistle, everyone's heads snapped to the front. Lovino sat down in his chair muttering, "You're welcome, bastard."

"I love you too, Lovi!"

"I never said that!"

Antonio began his message to the dining hall. "I'd like to thank everyone for being here today. I'm really glad that Arthur is allowing for this to happen, because I think that this alliance will help all of us immensely!" exclaimed the Spaniard jubilantly.

"Yes, I agree. Our operations should run much smoother, especially since we are now 24 people strong," added Arthur from next to Antonio, his arms folded behind his back.

"I look forward to getting to know all of you!" said Antonio. "Now, we have some people in the back getting lunch ready. There's grilled chicken, steak, and vegetables, along with some fruit and other snacks. Drinks are in the cooler to the left. They should be coming out soon-" The double doors to the kitchen opened, and Alfred and Abel stepped out. Both were balancing large trays of cooked meat, which they set down on the table.

"All done, chief." Alfred gave him a thumbs up. "We'll get the rest out." The two went back into the kitchen to retrieve whatever remained. Meanwhile, Yong Soo and Li Xiao were carrying out the grilled vegetables which they put down next to the meat.

About half of the room stood up to get their food, including their table of five. They grabbed some drinks on the end, Mathias obviously picking the beer. After Ice got a Dr. Pepper out of the cooler, he put some chicken and watermelon on his plate. He was about to walk away, when Nor put some zucchini on it.

"What was that for?" Ice asked him angrily.

The other finished adding some other vegetables to his own plate, then told him in a brotherly tone, "How are you ever going to grow to be big and strong if you don't get your nutrients?"

"Don't patronize me," said Ice defiantly. He sat down at the table and waited for the others to get there. As he picked at his chicken, Tino noticed his lack of progress on his plate.

"Are you not hungry today?" he asked considerately.

Ice shook his head. "Not really."

Nor paused in the middle of cutting his food. "If you don't eat, I'll feed you."

"You wouldn't."

"He would," mused Mathias distractedly as he ate.

"That's completely unnecessary," debated Ice. Seconds later, a piece of cut up chicken was shoved into his mouth. He quickly chewed and swallowed it, then verbally attacked the boy next to him.

"You say that Mathias is annoying, when you're the one who keeps forcing me to do stuff!"

Arms crossed in front of him in a relaxed position, Nor looked at him cockily. "And your point is?"

"Stop it!"

"Then eat."

After Mathias teased him by saying he was like a teenage girl watching her figure, Ice finally managed to eat almost all of his food (still mad at the two boys who had been messing with him).  
It was when most of the people in the room were nearly done eating that the popping from outside resounded throughout the ears of everyone in the room. It was silent; everyone's eyes fixated on the door nearest to what sounded like some sort of firework. Arthur deftly pulled a handgun out of his jacket, Antonio doing the same. Good captains are always prepared for the worst, and these two were no different.

They both crept up to the door, backs pressed against the wall. Antonio turned the doorknob and nudged the door open. After a few moments, he stood up straight and fearlessly pushed the door completely open, then walked out. Arthur peeked out from the side, and decided to follow him. A few of the people crowded around the windows to that side, some of them going outside. When Ice peered through the blinds, he saw the two men gathered around a box. Shells from the fireworks were scattered around it, but the box was unaffected.

They kicked away the remnants of the paper filled with gunpowder, deeming them safe at this point since they were only used to attract attention. Arthur lifted the lid and pulled out a single piece of paper. He and Antonio looked at it, worried looks on both of their faces. They walked inside, and everyone followed them. The others took seats at tables, ready to hear the news about what was on the sheet of paper.

Arthur cleared his throat and held it out. "It seems that we've been watched. It says, 'I'm surprised that you've taken this step, Kirkland. We must say, it was a surprise.'" At this, his facial expression took on a more disapproving look. "'While both of our opponents uniting in this race of time is not a good thing, it does make our job of exterminating the group of you a much easier task. May the best team win, we'll see you soon.'"

"Are they treating this like a game for children?" shouted Vash, standing up with his hands planted firmly on the table. "I'll kill them!"

"Brother, sit down," requested his sister. He glared at the letter with malice, as if _it_ was the thing threatening them, then planted himself back in the chair.

"We will take the appropriate action. The officers each of us have appointed and the both of us will discuss this issue and get back to all of you as soon as a decision has been reached." informed Antonio, wearing his serious face. "Now, we will reveal the officers. If your name is called, please come up here and be prepared to walk with us to the conference room. Elizabeta Héderváry. Alfred Jones. Wang Yao. Toris Laurinaitis."

The four strode up there (Alfred fist pumping at his authoritative position) and took their place next to the two captains. "The rest of you may do as you please until we return," said Antonio over his shoulder as they exited the building.

The remaining people just looked at each other, unsure of what to do, until Gilbert piped up. "Anyone wanna go clear out the rest of the alcohol and look at porn with me?"

A deep chuckle came from the side, and a blonde man with stubble on his chin stepped over to him. "Ah, I like your style, my friend. Your name is Gilbert, correct?" said Francis, smirking. He held out a hand, and the two shook.

"Yep, the one-and-only, fucking awesome Gilbert," he replied proudly.

"As for the alcohol, I'll stick with my wine, but you're more than welcome to it."

The silver haired man snorted. "When it comes to booze, I always pick beer." He clutched Matthew's hand, who had seemed to just appear by his side out of nowhere. At least, Ice hadn't noticed him until he was grabbed by the maniacally grinning party-animal next to him. "C'mon Mattie, let's go!" The three also left; one with a perverted look on his face, one carrying the cooler full of alcohol, and the other one weakly protesting but getting nowhere.

"I stand by my previous statement," said Nor, and he pointed at Gilbert. "Stay away from that one."


	7. Chapter 7

**Next chapter! Sorry if this kind of seems like filler, I have the important stuff planned soon (although, there is some of that at the beginning). I promise. Just so you don't get confused, they're playing a card game called BS at the beginning, where you try to call other people's bluff and be the first to run out of cards. Hong Kong likes fireworks in the webcomics, so I threw that in this chapter. I'm volunteering at a day camp next week, so the update will probably be late :/ I'll try to get it done as quickly as I can!**

**Mi3staR- I had to relate a piece of literature to a piece of art, and we could do music, so I just did that song. Haha, really? Sounds fun. Hmmm, i'll answer this question with headcanon. Hong Kong likes to read hentai, and he usually manages to find yaoi (it fits with the earlier part when he and Korea were creeping on Iceland). Yup, he's a fighting machine, but his sister keeps him in check. I'm glad you like it, that was my way of portraying the tension between them from the series (and history I think, I haven't actually taken that class in school yet so i'm not sure. I'm going to Google that later :P).**

**Rabbah- I have a flamingo from them. Yeah.**

* * *

"Three queens."

"…"

"Hmmm…"

"Eh."

"BS!" shouted Mathias, leaning halfway over the table and flipping the top three playing cards over. Three queens were revealed to having been placed down, and he made a face at Tino, who was smiling contently from the opposite side.

"Well," he explained, "you _have_ called out BS on the last 4 turns. When you play this game, you have to keep track of what other people gain. Right now, I know that you're about to take three queens, so I remember that for the next time it comes around to you."

"I play cards to win, not to think," Mathias said ignorantly, sorting the new stack of cards into his hand.

"It's true; his cluelessness applies to everything he does, not just daily functions," added Nor while looking over his eight cards.

Ice was playing BS with the rest of the group at their table while they were waiting for the decision the captains, and newly appointed officers, were making in the conference room. It had been half an hour already, so he expected them to be out any minute now.

"Two kings," he said, putting two cards face down on the new pile. Mathias made a face of restraint, fighting the urge to call out the words that would show what the cards actually were.

No one objected, so it went to Nor.

Just as he was about to pull a card out of his hand, the door opened and 6 people stepped out. Alfred, Elizabeta, and Toris were making conversation, the tall one wearing the bomber jacket chatting animatedly while the other two just listened intently. The woman's arms were crossed, a smirk upon her face. She made a retort about whatever the tall man had just said, and in turn he made an irked face and pointed at her. Toris nervously chuckled from the side, not wanting to get involved in whatever dispute the two were having.

The other three, Yao, Antonio, and Arthur, were having a more mature conversation. Antonio was walking cheerily in the middle, making slight gestures with his hands to accompany his words, while the other two respectfully nodded at what he was saying. Arthur was engaged in the talk, but occasionally glanced back at the other group. He seemed to focus on Alfred, and then would quickly get back to their conversation. Ice remembered that someone mentioned a past between both of them, but that thought was pushed away when he noticed a sheet of paper grasped in one of his hands, which as soon as the huddle reached the front of the room, was unraveled.

Any other conversations in the room ceased as all the attention was on the British man holding up the list. He began, "All six of us have come to a conclusion, which we hope that you all find to be suitable. We've divided each and every one of you into groups, or patrols, if you will. In these patrols, you will go on missions and work closely together, so we have put you together according to our former knowledge of your relations with the others or how well we think you will work with them."

Antonio picked up that point of the talk and jumped in to continue it. "If you have any problems with these groups, we can move them around. I think that you'll be pleased with what we have, though!" He took a quick glance around the room to check the attendance, then he and Arthur whispered something to each other. He held up the list again, and then read off the names to the people awaiting the news in front of him. "In the first group, we have Yong Soo, Kiku, Li Xiao, Lilly, and Vash. In the second, there is Gilbert, Matthew, Roderich, and Francis. Third; Berwald, Mathias, Tino, Eiríkur, and Norge. Fourth is Bella, Lovino, Abel, and Ivan. Ivan is currently occupied, but he'll be here soon enough. The six of us are going to be the council, so we're a group on our own. I think that's all the announcements for today, do you have anything to add?"

Antonio looked towards Arthur, who shook his head.

"Just that we're going to split you guys up into the different buildings by groups, but that will only be temporary. We're going to have everyone in the same one eventually, and just add on to one of the locations so we can be in the same place."

Everyone in the audience looked to their future group members. No one looked too surprised; the 'council' did a good job of pairing them up. There was a mumble of consent, and then Alfred spoke up from his place at the front with his team. "We should probably say who's going where so some people know to pack their bags," he declared. The message was directed at the two leaders, but as usual, everyone could hear Alfred as he voiced his opinion on each and every issue.

The Brit glared back. "Shut up git, I was just getting to that." He cleared his throat. "Alright, the groups staying here are ours, Abel's, and Tino's. Vash and Matthew's are going to be at the other building. And we will be in constant contact, so don't try to go berserk and mess up the place," he advised, sending a look that said 'yes-I'm-talking-to-you' towards Gilbert, who put up his hands defensively. "That being said, I'm appointing someone to keep a bit more of a hold on the place, so Kiku, you're on the job. Tonight we're staying at our regular places, but tomorrow at noon sharp, we're doing the exchange, so be prepared."

The Japanese man bowed his head slightly, saying, "Thank you for giving me the honor of such a position, I will not fail you."

Antonio, seeing that everything was taken care of, clapped his hands together. "Excellent! I'm glad that we're all getting along nicely, I hope you enjoyed today's meeting except for that little, um, mishap. That's all over though, and I know that we'll definitely be able to make this a successful operation as long as we keep working hard!" He ended on a high note, always being the positive one.

"We're leaving in about half an hour, just a heads up," interjected Arthur. The two leaders shook hands respectively, and took their seats at their different tables.

"Did you hear that, Nor?" asked Mathias with a grin. "We get to live with these guys!"

Ice grimaced, then facepalmed. _I'm going to be within walking distance of these two, and Li Xiao and Yong Soo are going to the other building. They're going to make my life a living Hell,_ the teen thought miserably. _At least I have a room to myself._

Speaking of room assignments…"Oh, I call rooming with Ice!" called out Mathias.

"No!" Ice shot back immediately. "You and Nor are roommates now, it can stay that way."

The older pouted slightly. "But he always nags me to clean my side, and it's hard to wake him up in the morning. Plus, I've had to share a room with him since we were really young, so I want a different roommate."

Nor's head was rested on one hand, propped palm-up on the table. He sent him a dull glance as he said, "You're a pig, and I wasn't going to clean up for you. I couldn't care any less if you moved out of my room,-"

"Our," corrected the taller man.

"-except that it would mean that you're in the same one as him," he continued, pointing to the unamused Ice.

The boy sent him a look crossed between confused and offended. "What are you saying?"

"I'm uncomfortable with that," Nor stated. "I don't like the idea of some creepy drunk sleeping in the same quarters as a teenage boy."

"I resent that! Well, I mean, you kinda have the drunk part right," conceded Mathias. "But I'm not a pedophile, I'm only 20!"

Berwald and Tino watched with interest from the side. "How often do you think stuff like this is going to happen?" whispered the shorter one to his friend, eyes still trained on the scene in front of them.

"Often," murmured the other. "Th't one likes tr'uble."

"He'd be safer if it was me." Turning to the teenager, Nor asked, "Which one of us would you rather have as a roommate?"

"I can live by myself," he told them both.

"That wasn't an option," rebutted the older.

Frowning, Ice told them plainly, "I don't want either of you in my room."

"Ouch," said Mathias in mock pain, clenching his heart. "That hurts, bro."

Ice stood up from the table. "I'm tired," he lied. "I'm going to take a nap; I'll see you guys tomorrow." He turned from the table without another word, ignoring Mathias' calls, and left for his room.

As he watched his friend walk out the door, Tino sighed in sympathy. "He's never really been a social kid, so he sometimes doesn't really know how to deal with some situations like that," he told the other two. "It's nothing wrong that you two did, I know you were just teasing around."

Mathias looked down at his lap, slightly regretting his actions towards Ice. "It was probably my fault that he left."

"No, I think that this is going to be good experience for him," consoled Tino. "I think that it's really sweet that you both took him in as your brother, he just needs to adjust to it. He never really had a family, so this is a bit new for him. I know that you'll grow on him sooner or later."

"What kind of stuff does he like?" inquired Nor.

"Hmmm? You mean like what his interests are? He likes to read, and I've seen him playing videogames with his friends a few times."

Nor was going to swing by the store and get the boy a present, but didn't know what to buy. He remembered the painted pot from that morning, though, and instantly knew what to get.

It was the day after the party. Nor and Mathias had one of the SUVs packed with their belongings (they had a pretty small room in the first place, and the beds and basic furniture were already in the rooms they were going to, so they only had to bring personal items). They were moving to the other building, and Nor was driving the car to get them there.

"Hey, I think you just missed our exit," pointed out Mathias, glancing over to the road leading to what he thought the route to their destination was.

"We're going over here," Nor said, steering the car towards a different route.

"Shortcut?"

"No," he told him. "I need to pick something up." They pulled into the parking lot of an art store, and Nor and the confused Mathias climbed out.

"Do you suddenly have an interest in art or something?" Mathias asked as they walked through the sliding doors. The smell of paint and hot glue guns hit them as they entered the store.

"It's for Ice. I thought it would be nice to give him something, and I know he likes to paint." Nor glanced around at the sections of the store, and as soon as he spotted the one labeled 'acrylics', set off towards it. Mathias trailed behind him, checking out all the different types of supplies that they had stocked on the various shelves.

Bending over some basic paint tube sets hanging from a wall, Nor picked up a set of 20 acrylic colors. He walked three aisles over and grabbed some paper that said it worked well with acrylics and watercolors, as well as a few different sizes of paintbrushes in a combo pack. The items were quickly purchased, and the two men exited the store.

"Are you sure he's a painter?" asked the older one, reading the label on the back of the acrylic tubes.

Nor nodded. "Yes."

"If you say so, then." Mathias turned on the radio to a local pop station, and started bobbing his head back and forth. "I love this song; it's great to dance to." Hit with an idea, his face lit up. "Hey, we should go dancing this week! I haven't done that in a while."

"Not interested," replied the other one dully.

"I don't know anyone else to go with though," Mathias mused out loud. "I could go with Berwald and Tino, but I don't think Berwald likes me that much."

Nor looked at him, and then said sarcastically, "I wonder why."

"At least I'm trying to do stuff with the others, you're just buying presents for Ice and not accepting my offer to go dancing!"

"What if I have more important things to do?"

"Like what, talk to your fairies?"

"Why yes, that _is_ more important than clubbing with you," Nor replied, getting back onto the main road which they could follow all the way to Carriedo's building.

Mathias brushed off the verbal burn, long used to Nor's not-so-subtle jabs at his ideas. "Well, yesterday, Tino said that we should all do something together. You know, to commemorate our new team!"

"Let me guess. You have something in mind."

"Yup!" he announced proudly. "We should rent a boat for an afternoon; we can take it out on the lake and go tubing or something."

Nor couldn't argue with that; they were going to have to do something together at some point, and he did enjoy the water. As much as he loved to disagree, he decided to accept his friend's idea this time.

"Today, we have to get situated and finish this moving stuff." That was his no-direct way of saying yes, but Mathias picked up on it.

He beamed. "Great! Does tomorrow work for you?"

"I don't have anything planned yet," Nor informed him.

"Sweet, we're going to spend an awesome day on the water and under the sun with the other three! I'll need some beer, a watermelon, and a cooler full of sandwiches." Mathias went over the supplies list out loud, not wanting to leave anything out for their special day in the making.

The duo made it, at last, to their new place of residence. The two other cars that were coming from their old home were already there, and the cars' occupants were hauling out their luggage and whatever items they hadn't managed to fit into them. The two were met with a surprise when two pale-blonde haired men walked up to greet them. Tino waved cheerily and asked them politely, "Do you guys want a hand with your stuff?"

"That'd be great, thanks!" replied Mathias.

Tino picked up a brown suitcase he found wedged in the back, while Nor was already digging through their possessions. The two grabbed as much as they could carry, the taller ones behind them doing the same once they set off towards the large building. Nor assumed that Tino knew where they were going, so he just conversed with him as the other man led them into the residential building.

"How was your trip over here?" questioned Tino.

"It went well, I got Ice some painting supplies," Nor told him casually. "I saw that pot he painted in the courtyard."

The violet-eyed man had a gentle smile on his face. "Yeah, he's really talented, isn't he? I'm sure he'll appreciate it!" Tino turned around and pushed open the door with his back, bringing them both into an air conditioned hallway. There were doors dotting the hallway all the way down, each leading into their own double-bedroom unit. They both waited at the entrance for Berwald and Mathias, who were close behind them carrying the larger items.

"Haha, if you think you can beat me at soccer, you're sorely mistaken. I was a pro at it in middle school. If I didn't have so many disciplinary issues, I would've made it to the team captain!" boasted the younger one.

"Whatev'r," replied Berwald, denying any claims that the other made.

Once fully inside, Mathias looked around. "Hmmm? I just noticed, where'd Ice go?"

"He's saying bye to his friends; they were transferred to the other building. I feel bad for him, they were the closest in age and he'd actually hang out with them." Tino frowned, remembering that if the other boys weren't available, Ice would either be with him and Berwald or just coop himself up in his room.

"I have a feeling that once Mathias has 24 hour access to him, he won't ever have the relieving chance to be alone," said Nor, who was leaning against a wall.

Tino just laughed. "Yeah, I forgot he'll be getting new friends! He seems to like both of you already." He put down the stuff that he was carrying and pulled two keys out of his pocket, each labeled with a number. He tossed one to each of the boys. "Now, let's get both of you to your rooms."

"I'm gonna miss you, Ice!" The silver haired boy was hug-tackled by the Korean, who launched himself at his friend. "Don't forget to email and text and Facebook and call me every day!"

Ice hesitated, and then gave him a few pats on the back. "I'll try," he reassured the other teen, who was trying not to burst into tears.

He and Li Xiao, on the other hand, wore plain expressions as they shook hands, not seeing the exchange as that big of a deal. "I'll see you soon, take care."

"Same." He saw the Chinese boy reach into his pocket and pull out a cylinder wrapped in paper with a small wick poking out of it. Ice warily took a step back; how did he not think that his friend would miss the opportunity of pulling one of his pyromaniac stunts with fireworks-

But instead of being set off, it was nudged into his hand. "Just something for you until I get back; if you're ever bored and want to scare the crap out of anyone," Li Xiao elaborated in response to Ice's confused look, then shrugged. "Who knows, it might come in handy."

Ice gingerly took the explosive and set it gently into his jacket pocket. "Thanks, I'll keep that in mind…" He made eye contact with the other two and nodded, the conclusion to their conversation. They hopped in the car, Li Xiao taking the driver's seat.

He backed out of the parking spot, checking behind him for any other people. Yong Soo slowly waved to the lone teenager standing on the concrete. Once he saw that they were clear, Li Xiao faced Ice, then decided to amuse his friend by creating a mock firework with his hands. He unfurled his clenched fists and slowly opening them, spreading his fingers apart to make them look like the bursts of sparks. He winked at him, and Ice smiled back at his child-like action. He watched as they pulled out of the parking lot, and the black car turned down the street, out of sight.

Ice shoved his hands in his pockets and solemnly meandered back to the dorms. He pushed open the door, and then walked down the grey hall towards his room with the number 8 above the doorway. He began to reach for his key, when he noticed that the door was slightly opened. He didn't remember leaving it unlocked.

He slowly pushed it open and discreetly peered around the door. He was met with the highly unexpected sight of Nor, laying with his stomach down on his bed. The blonde had propped himself up on his elbows, and was perusing a small magazine-type thing.

"What are you doing in my room?" asked Ice hastily.

Nor looked up, apparently not having noticed him walk in. "Reading," he said. He turned back to the thing in his hands. "I didn't know this is what you meant when you said you read a lot of literature."

Unsure of what he was talking about, Ice walked closer to him. When he realized what it was, he promptly tore the doujinshi out of his hands. Red faced, he rolled it up and tossed it into the trash. "That is NOT mine! Where did you get it?" he questioned the man who was lying on his bed with a bored look.

"It was where I wanted to sit, so I picked it up. I had nothing else to do, so I read it," Nor recounted.

"Li Xiao…" Ice cursed through clenched teeth. Remembering the other reason he was angry, he focused his attention back at the person absentmindedly fiddling with a pen on his bed. "I never said that you could come in my room."

"You would be correct in that statement," Nor sat up and stared at him. "This is no longer your room, though, as we now both share it."

Ice looked from Nor, to the pile of his belongings next to Li Xiao's former bed, to the door, then back to his bed. He stared him down, and pointed to the door. "Go live with Mathias."

"Neither of us wanted to share rooms with each other, and this was our assignment. That was the last room left, and apparently Gilbert smashed the other bed when Roderich was living there. Looks like you're stuck living with me."

Ice sighed. "Can you at least get off my bed?" Nor complied, and began unpacking the stuff from his suitcases and loading the clothes into the wooden wardrobe on his half of the room. Ice lay down on the bed and closed his eyes, trying to think of something positive. _Puffins. Yeah, puffins..._ He almost reached for his stuffed bird, but then he remembered that the other person was in his room.

Ice frowned in annoyance. It wasn't sharing that ticked him off. He didn't have much of a problem with personal space when Li Xiao was with him, but he felt that it wouldn't be the case with Nor. It was something about the blonde that just felt…weird. He didn't really know how to explain it, but he wished it would just go away.

"Here." He opened his eyes to see the other standing over him, holding out some items. Nor handed them over, and upon closer examination, Ice realized that they were painting supplies.

"What are these for?" he asked him. It wasn't his birthday or Christmas, so Ice didn't understand why Nor would buy him a present.

"For painting," he replied, as if the other didn't understand the purpose of giving someone the basic tools to acrylic painting wasn't obvious. "Although, if you decided to paint any of that NSFW content that I recently discovered you take a liking to, I would prefer if you don't hang it up on our walls."

Ice shot up from his pillow and glared at him. "I already told you, that wasn't mine!"

"Mhhmm," agreed the other mockingly. Switching the subject to something more prioritized, Nor decided to notify Ice of the plans for the day ahead. He began to return to his wardrobe. "Tomorrow, all five of us are going to take a boat trip out on the lake, so you should be prepared to leave at 10:45."

"Why?"

Still taking out clothes and carefully placing the folded garments into the drawers, Nor told him, "The others think it's a good way to bond." In Ice's mind, it sounded like an unnecessary trip, but he would go along with it since he probably wouldn't get a choice anyways.

"Do you need help with anything?" Ice asked him, noticing the load of things he had.

"I'm fine." Nor continued to arrange his stuff on his side of the room. Ice noticed a strangely shaped case and walked over to examine it. "That's the violin from Mathias' Dad. I can't play it with my arm like this, though," voiced the other from the floor.

Ice could wait. He lived with Nor now, so there would be plenty of opportunities to hear him play. He was interested in his new painting supplies though, so he walked over to his bed to check them out.

Just as he was placing them with his other paints, he heard the boisterous 20 year old enter his room. "So, you guys having fun?" Mathias inquired as he let himself in, uninvited, to the room.

"We were, but then this annoying loudmouth came in and disturbed us. Now I kind of want to hit him in the face," Nor bantered cynically.

Mathias glanced around the room. "Weird, I don't see him. You must be day dreaming again; does he happen to have any troll buddies with him?" He threw himself upon Ice's bed, at which the silver haired boy crossed his arms and looked disapprovingly at him.

"Is my bed a stranger magnet or something…" he muttered under his breath. It wasn't quiet enough for Mathias to not pick it up.

"Oh, do you want some space too?" He shifted over and sat up, then smiled at Ice and patted the space to the left of him. Instead, Ice just sat on the corner of his bed. Mathias just ignored the act of rejection, and put his head on Ice's pillow. "Mmmm, your pillow smells good," he said dreamily. The teenager sent him a strange glance and began to wonder if now was a good time to kick him out.

"Do you have any food?" Mathias asked the exasperated owner of the bed.

"Why would I have food in my bedroom?"

"Let's go get some then, I'm starving." He hopped up off the bed, grabbing Ice's hand in the process. He began to walk towards the door, calling out to the other one behind his shoulder, "Hey Nor, Ice and I are just gonna go get lunch together in a car that I'm driving without any responsible or mature older figures to keep watch over us so I hope that we don't do anything bad. See ya!" Stepping into the hallway, Mathias snickered at the other who had frozen in the middle of unpacking.

Seconds later, the door opened. "I just realized how hungry I am, so I'm coming with you both. And no, you are not driving." Nor folded his arms and began walking to the parking lot ahead of the other two, while Mathias grinned and thrust his thumb at him behind his back.

"See, that's how you work him. One of the things you have to learn if you're gonna live with him." The pair walked down the hall behind Nor, the tall one merrily humming a tune.

Once situated in the car (with the 'mature' and 'responsible' figure at the wheel), Nor asked Mathias, "Where did you plan on going?"

"I don't know, McDonalds or something," he suggested.

The blonde made a face expressing his uninterest, then refused. "We are not going to McDonalds." The car began moving, and he drove down the street outside the lot.

"There's that bakery place we drove by on the way over here," Mathias pointed out to them.

"Better," replied the driver. "Are you good with that, Ice?"

"Yeah." He honestly didn't care where they went, he just wanted Mathias out of his room, and it was lunchtime after all.

When he saw the sign, Nor drove the car into the restaurant's parking lot. All three got out and entered the small bakery, the smell of baked pastries and goods filling up the shop in abundance. Mathias was the first one to place his order. "Hi! Can I get a slice of that quiche? Oh, and one of those Danish pastries. That fudge cookie looks good too…"

"Don't get any more, that's plenty for lunch," criticized his friend. "I'll take a ham and cheese croissant." Nor took his order and went to pay for it at the register.

Ice got the same, and once they were paid for, the three sat down at a table and began eating.

"So," began Mathias, eating his strawberry pastry. "You guys pumped for tomorrow?"

"Not really," commented Nor. Ice just shrugged.

Mathias rolled his eyes at both of them. "It'll be fun, I promise. The tube is going to be great; have you ever gone tubing?" He looked at the youngest one.

"No, I've never really been on a boat," Ice confessed.  
Both of the other boys looked at him like he was crazy. "What?" asked Mathias, bewildered that he had never ridden on one before. "We're going to change that this year. Trust me, there's nothing like the feeling of being on the open water with a boat," he reminisced nostalgically. He and Nor used to have access to his grandpa's flat-topped fishing boat, and they created some of the best times on there. He recounted some of the memories that they had from it, Nor pitching in with his side more than a few times.

"I'll try it," Ice sufficed, not that interested in nautical-related stuff. He was an okay swimmer, but that was about it.

The trio continued their lunch, Mathias leading the topics with his personable attitude. Nor would make remarks at the sometimes over-the-top claims he made, and Ice would occasionally pitch his ideas. All in all, it was a pleasant afternoon, especially for the teenage boy who was finally beginning to think that this wasn't a bad idea after all.

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**About the doujinshi thing: I'M SORRY, I JUST FELT LIKE I HAD TO PUT THAT IN THERE.**


	8. Chapter 8

**Sorry for the wait, I had an week of volunteering at a Boy Scout camp and I got pretty worn out. Regular updates will resume! Also, try to catch the reference to the dub version of the Nordics special episode (i've rewatched that episode so many times, I love it).**

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Berwald was contentedly navigating the car down the road, Mathias sitting happily in the passenger seat. For the first time, they were having a relatively pleasant conversation. The larger man said little as usual, but didn't seem to have a problem listening to the other as he rambled on about whatever topic he decided was interesting enough.

Nor and Tino were also making light conversation, situated in the middle seats of the car, with Ice preferring to take the back to himself. The teenager was the only one who wasn't keen on this trip, but was mature enough to not complain about the outing. He stared out the window, observing the scenery change steadily from their cove in the corner of the city, to busy winding roads surrounded by woods, to a crystal clear lake with flash streaks of the sun bouncing off of the surface. Multiple sailboats blew past a small island situated on the side of the lake that the boat rental dock was on, which would take them approximately seven more minutes to reach according to the boisterous young man seated on the passenger's seat.

"I call dibs on the tube first!" he claimed enthusiastically, his unruly hair blowing in all directions as he leaned his head out the window of the car. Nor watched his friend with a roll of his eyes.

"Unless you want your obnoxious head to be knocked off by one of these cliffs, I suggest that you keep it inside of the vehicle," casually informed the blonde.

Mathias sat back on his chair, his head rested on his crossed arms behind his head. "Only because we're almost there."

"Yep! Just a little more until we can kick back in the water," chirped in the blonde wearing a comfortable button-down cream shirt. He also donned a pair of swim trunks, as were the others in the car. They had all dressed in attire to be out in the sun: Berwald had on a slightly thicker button-down that was a clear cerulean color, Ice was wearing a graphic t-shirt with a faded picture of a sunset, and Mathias…had decided that a shirt was unnecessary, despite Nor's chastising for walking around shirtless, so he was not wearing one. Nor had decided to just go with a simple navy blue polo. All of them also had a pair of sunglasses somewhere on them, but were waiting to put them on when they arrive.

As the car rounded a curve, the trees opened up to reveal a long pier with an enormous blue canvas top stretched over a multitude of boats that were parked underneath it. Cars were parked erratically upon an elevated surface made of crushed limestone and various broken rocks a short ways away from the pier. On the opposite side of the private area, a concrete ramp built into the ground sloped into the water, installed for people with boat trailers to deposit their watercrafts into the lake.

Berwald safely parked in a shady corner, and all five climbed out of the SUV. Mathias yawned, and then stretched his limbs. "Dock number 14." He waved his paper, with their reservation printed on it, in the air, and then set off down the small hill to get to the shaded area and receive the keys. The man with the glasses popped the trunk and hauled out a large cooler with wheels, which he dragged behind him as they began walking.

Ice shuffled belatedly behind the other three, hands shoved in his pockets. Nor noticed this out of the corner of his eye, and then quickly took a step back and took a hold of his sleeve. He pulled Ice up level with the other two, and they all fell in step. "There's no space on the boat for you to lag behind," he said, letting go of the other boy. Ice shrugged, and followed them to the planked surface where the marina owner was making conversation with Mathias.

"The wind's a little strong today, but that'll just add to the excitement," they heard the owner inform as they walked up.

"Perfect!" Mathias shouted with a fist pump. "Nothing like roughing up a first timer with a bit of wind!" He laughed and slapped Ice's back, who lurched forward at the force and was luckily pulled back by Berwald, who caught him just before he toppled over.

"Don't kill 'm before we get on th' boat," the strong man cautioned.

Mathias grinned. "Of course I wouldn't do that, then we wouldn't get to witness the hilarity of our little brother crying as he hangs on to the tube as if his life depended on it!"

"Mathias, if you try to kill me, I swear, I will-" exploded the silver haired teen, restraining the immense urge to kick him in the crotch and shove him into the water. Nor, with his splinted arm carrying a paperback book, watched from the side.

"He's a strong kid, he'll be fine," assured Tino from the side before the teen got too hotheaded. "Just don't land on your head or neck."

A hearty chuckle sounded from the forgotten man standing there with the boat keys. He tossed the keys over to Tino, the one he assumed was the most responsible. "You boys have fun; stay safe. Lifejackets are in the front hatches." He disappeared around the corner of his office, leaving the five together on the dock.

"I'd say we're ready to go," announced Tino, and they all moved towards the large ski boat that was parked in their dock. It had neon yellow and green along the sides, which swerved up and down the hull. It created a V-shape at the bow, where there was a slight slope downwards. The parts that were not painted green or yellow had either a pristine white finish, an industrial black plastic, or shining metal. It was clear that the owners took pride in their rentals by their up keeping. A very short but steep windshield was in place to keep any fierce winds or sprays of water from affecting the driver and passenger too greatly, and attached to that was a thick metal bar that extended upward, making the boat twice as high. A set of black speakers were hanging off of it, and there were slots in which various ski-boat activity related equipment could be stored. Even Ice was impressed with the selection.

Mathias, looking like a child who had just been given his first handheld video device, elatedly hopped into the watercraft. He hugged the driver's seat tightly, then sat down on the cushioned chair and spun around a few times happily. "I've been away from this for too long," he said, a bright smile gracing his young features. Tino tossed him the keys and then took a seat with Berwald, both on the water-resistant, soft white seats that lined the back end of the boat. The cooler was set in the space in front of them, next to where an inflated red tube with a long, bright yellow rope was tied securely.

Nor took his place at the passenger seat, which was to the left of the steering console, leaving Ice to the small place at the front. It had the same white, cushiony seats that lined the inner sides of the V shape it occupied. Since the older four were experienced in the procedures required to operate a motorized water vehicle, they all stepped out to untie each of the ropes holding the bobbing ski boat in place. Once the ropes were tossed into the boat, with Ice watching his friends' motions intently, three of them set to removing the bumpers from the sides as Mathias got the boat started up. Noticing the younger boy observing them, Mathias glanced over to him. He momentarily lifted up his glasses to wink at him, saying, "You're gonna enjoy this."

The motor buzzed to life, and Norge pushed the boat away from the covered spot where it had previously rested. The only warning was Mathias' grin as he pushed up the black lever, that was protruding from a space adjacent to the steering wheel, before the boat shot away from the land.

Ice let out a yelp and ducked down out of the wind blowing across the top surface of the boat. He curled up, wide eyed, against the seat. He heard Mathias laughing at him from behind, then whipped his head around and glared at him. "Don't do that!" he yelled over the whirr of the wind.

The blonde sitting next to Mathias sensed Ice's uneasiness at the speed of the boat as it sliced through the water, with the tip pointing up. He kicked Mathias' feet, eliciting an, "Ow, be nice, or I won't let you go until the end!" from the driver. Nor tipped his head in the direction of the lever, and the older one got a clue. Slowly, the boat's speed decreased, and the sleek form of the yellow and green boat began to bounce up and down against the waves that lapped against the hull.

Nor stood up and put his hands over his eyes to shield them from the sun as he scanned the water. True to the employee's word, waves created by the relatively strong wind blew across the entirety of the lake. "I think we're far enough out. We can go ahead and toss out the tube." His arm was still in its splint, so he left that job to Tino. The smaller blonde secured the end of the rope to the metal bar above their heads with a larks head knot, then hopped down from his perch.

"Alright, if I point up, that means faster. Thumbs up means I'm good," Mathias explained as he prepared for his turn, demonstrating his actions. The tube was in the water where Berwald threw it, and he decided that his best way-of-approach would be to take a running jump. He backed up and then ran over the boat's edge, jumping at the last second and landing in the center of the tube. It almost toppled over, but he evened out his weight just in time. Ice leaned against the side, appreciating the slower rhythm of the boat. A grey and yellow blur blew past him, and he realized that it was a lifejacket when Mathias caught it. He secured it safely around his chest.

"Jus'a warning," mumbled the tall man to the teen as he was about to restart the boat. "If ya thought th'waves were rough earlier, y'should probably take a seat n'the back." Nor was in Tino's old seat, so he took Berwald's.

Berwald checked behind him, and at the hand stretched high in the air with the very visible thumb, turned the keys. He pushed the lever up, and the boat began moving forward. It was about the same speed that it had started, and Ice looked back at Mathias with a horrified expression. "You mean we're going to drag him behind the boat like this? Shouldn't we have started slower?" he sputtered out.

"What did you think we were going to do?" replied Nor. The rope was slowly loosing slack as Ice watched, speechless. "You try to keep them inside the wake, and they bounce back and forth. Usually, they flip out of the tube when they go over it." The rope finally became taught, and the tube popped up out of the water, jumping into the air with the man laughing wildly inside it.

The tube was buffeted by the strong jets of water the boat expelled, and it bumped along the dented-looking surface of the lake. The two could hear Mathias' "Whoop!"s as he tilted the inflated ring in an attempt to steer it. The boat leaned to the right as the whole thing turned, and the tube came close to going over the edge of the V-shaped boundary that the boat left behind. Ice was just worried about falling out of the boat himself.

"He said 'faster'," shouted Nor to Berwald, who nodded to show that he heard, and the boat sped up.

When the teen looked back, sure enough, there was the blonde, urging the watercraft on.

"Is this really safe?" he asked Nor, who shrugged in reply.

"It's legal." That wasn't very convincing.

After about three more minutes, in which Berwald tried all sorts of swerves to knock him off, Mathias finally flew off of the tube. The boat slowed down, and turned around to pick him up. It bobbed over to a figure in the water, who was visibly taking big breaths of air.

"Are you okay?" asked Ice, concerned, as they neared the man. After hearing that statement, Mathias laughed at the boy.

"You kidding? That was great! I'm totally fine." He swam over to the back of the boat to a small ladder that he flipped down and climbed into the boat, dripping water everywhere. "I'll take a beer, though." He bent down and rustled around in the cooler to grab one of the cold cans, then took a swig of the bubbly liquid. Setting it down on the floor for a few moments, he unclipped his PFD and handed it over to Ice.

"What do you want me to do with this?" he asked the other.

"Put it on," Mathias replied, stealing the boy's seat and continuing to drink his beer.

Ice thrust the dripping object away from him. "I'm not wearing this!" he protested.

"Fine with me," said Nor as he reeled in the tube with the rope. "Don't complain when you're in the hospital with a broken neck."

"No, I mean I'm not going on that." Ice pointed with distaste at the tube waiting at the end of the boat. He heard someone walking up behind him.

"It's really not as bad as you think," encouraged Tino. "Just try it; it's a lot of fun!"

Eyeing the object warily, he muttered, "Thing looks like a death trap."

"Awww, is the silly little girl-boy scared of the water?" teased Mathias from his corner. "Sure seems like that."

Ice frowned at him. "No, it's the tube."

"Either way," Mathias continued, "I promise that I'll remind you of this every day of your life until you get out there and try it. If you don't like it after you go the first time, that's completely fine. Just once." He looked into Ice's eyes, silently daring him to go ahead.

"I'll try it," he acquiesced. Nor took the lifejacket from his fingers and fastened it around him, tightening it where it was needed, and then helped him to the daunting red ring.

"Don't lean around too much. If it looks like you're going to flip, protect your head and land safely. This will keep you from going under." Ice tentatively stuck one foot into it, then hopped in completely. The water wasn't too cold, but it still chilled his dry skin as he sat on the soaking wet synthetic covering. As the boat drifted forwards while the waves pushed him in the opposite direction, Ice was becoming more anxious at every wave that would pass by him. He heard the motor start up far away from him, then saw Berwald check over him. He gave a shaky thumbs up, then gripped both of the handles in front of him tightly. He pulled his arms in close together and began to squeeze his eyes shut.

Before they closed, he felt a powerful jerk as the tube flew in the air. They immediately opened, and he gripped the handles even harder. It landed, balanced, upon the surge of water being pumped out. He felt a spray of the cool water on his face as the boat easily towed the tube. It turned to the left, and he felt his weight shift to the tip of the wake, so that he was tilted at an angle. "You're going pretty slow. Want us to speed it up for you?" He shook his head back at Mathias. He was good for now with going at this speed.

"He said that you can go faster," shouted Nor to Berwald.

"No I didn't-" Ice began, but leaned down when he felt the tube picking up speed. He looked up to the two others, who were smirking and waving. The boat made a sharp turn to the right, and the tube followed suit and went over the edge of the wake. He was skimming over water that hadn't been touched by the boat, so it looked like glass. He could see his reflection in the water, his silver hair blowing backwards. He didn't realize that he had gotten back to being behind the boat until the image of the curious boy was replaced with churning water.

The boat slowed down, a barely noticeable amount, and then the tube whipped into the air. It landed with a quick jolt. Wondering what was going on, he was about to ask Mathias what Berwald was doing, when he saw who he thought was driving the boat seated in the back. Tino, who was facing him, waved. Looking over the shoulder of the pair, he spotted the source of the problem: Mathias seated at the driver's seat.

"Do you want to stop?" Tino asked him as another of the short jumps came. Ice shook his head; this was a test, given by someone who had called him a 'silly little girl-boy'. He had a feeling that no matter what he had previously promised, Mathias would tease him about this until he found something else worthy of his ridicule. Plus, this wasn't too bad; it was actually kind of fun.

Ice held on as the wild driver tried his best to dislodge his passenger, driving rampantly over the water. Tino couldn't restrain his laughter, as he was doubled over in giggles in the back. Berwald, who had his arms stretched over the edge of the boat as an armrest, was alternating between looking concerned at his boyfriend and the boy being pulled full-speed behind them, catching every bump in the water. Mathias was having the time of his life trying to come up with the most complex direction to steer the boat in, pushing it as far as he could without killing the poor boy.

Nor glanced up from his book to watch the seventeen-year old, then commented, "I'm surprised he's still hanging on."

Mathias' face was twisted in concentration, formulating his next action. "Me too. This should get him." He slowed down to wait as another boat crossed in front of them, and then shot across to combine the two currents. After he made it across, he craned his neck around to check if Ice was still on. "Damn," he hissed. "Kid's like a monkey."

As Mathias was about to start something else, he heard Berwald say, "Give'm a break." He hesitated, and then dropped his hand. The taller man began to pull the tube in, and they saw as Ice gave a visible sigh and relaxed back. By the time he was at the boat's edge, they could hear his teeth chattering and see his body shaking with small tremors. Nor tossed him a towel as he clamored into the boat and sank into one of the seats at the back.

"I gotta say, I have a newfound respect for you after this," announced Mathias as he strode up to Ice. He just nodded, too tired and cold to look up from all the repetitive splashing and wind chill. "Want a sandwich?" Mathias popped the cooler open and dug out five sandwiches in plastic bags, handing them out. Ice ate his ravenously, tossing the trash in the ice chest and stretching out on the comfortable seat. He closed his eyes and rested his head on his folded arms.

After a few more moments, Mathias prodded Ice with his finger. "Are you okay Icey?" That elicited a moan as the other boy tossed around. Mathias scratched his neck sheepishly. "Heh, I guess I went a little too far."

"He looked like he was having fun," chimed in Tino.

They all sat eating quietly, when Mathias stood up. "I'm jumping in the water," he proclaimed, starting towards the end.

"I'm moving," replied Nor, relocating himself to the seats in the front with his novel so that his splint wouldn't get splashed with water. Tino and Berwald soon joined the other man in the cool lake, and everyone peacefully went on with whatever they were doing.

The blonde that was left on the boat retrieved a towel, and carefully draped it over the sleeping boy. He sat down next to Ice, and gently pushed his hair back away from his face. The teen shifted, and then, inadvertently in his sleep, rested his cheek against the warm body next to him. Nor left his hand curled around the back of his head, and felt himself doze off also.

The two youngest team members sat comfortably for a few minutes, the other three doing whatever they were up to in the water. Just as Nor was about to slip out of consciousness, the medic was startled by the loud ring of his cellphone. He discreetly slid out of his seat, minding the other who was still sleeping.  
Groggily, he slid the answer bar that popped up on the screen of his iPhone. "Norge Bondevik," he answered unenthusiastically.

"Are you still with your team?" asked a rushed voice on the other end. Was that Yao?

"Yes," he replied quickly.

"Good. We need all of you back at headquarters immediately. Once you're all here, you will receive further instruction. Please arrive soon." Nor heard a click, and the conversation was over.

He made his way over to the side of the boat. "That was Yao, he wants us back."

Mathias was sprawled out, floating on the water. "I have a feeling that these council guys are gonna ruin a lot of our fun." He stretched his limbs, then swam over to the ladder and climbed up.

"Did he say why?" questioned Tino, right behind him.

Nor shook his head. "No, but it's urgent."

As soon as Berwald was out of the water, he claimed the driver's seat. As he started up the engine, Mathias shook Ice awake. "Hey, we're leaving. You might want to hang onto something." He chose to stand up as the boat tore through the water, holding onto the bar above Tino and Berwald's head. The two left in the back sat silently, Ice still sleepily hunched over.

Finally, they made it to the dock. Safely securing the boat to the metal and wooden poles with ropes, they gathered all their belongings and left it how it was before. Mathias retrieved the refundable deposit, and the group headed up towards the car. They shoved everything in the trunk and then climbed into the cab.  
Tino drove this time, and eased the car out of the parking spot. They left the port behind as the SUV rolled onto the paved road surrounded by the trees. "Didn't they say we could take a day off?" asked Ice, now aware of the situation.

"Kind of," answered the one who had made the reservation. "I told them that it was field training."

Nor elbowed Mathias in the stomach from his spot next to him in the middle of the car. "This may be a shock to your abundance of intelligence, but tubing and drinking beer on a ski boat does not count as training," he sarcastically informed him.

Rubbing the sore spot on his chest, Mathias replied, "I think dragging someone behind a moving vehicle counts as field training! It's an innovative way to practice and test one's endurance."

"Do you really think you can reason with me using that argument?"

"They never said we couldn't do something like this," Tino interjected. "It seems like something they would encourage; they did say that they want us to get to know each other better."

"We can always go somewhere else later!" Mathias said optimistically. "I saw a new bar opening up around the corner on the way out here-" he began to suggest.

"No more bars," opposed Ice.

Mathias waggled a finger at him. "Well then, you can just stay at home and watch Disney channel by yourself."

"I'm not going either. I've been in enough presence of drunken idiocy for the week." Nor was also, unsurprisingly, against that idea.

"We could just go out and have a picnic together at the park," spoke Tino, advocating for a more family-like activity. Berwald nodded his head in approval from next to him.

"That sounds good too; I haven't been to a park in ages."

From his spot off to the left, Nor reminded them that they still had plenty of time to decide. "It's not like we had anything planned anyways. Soon we'll know each other well enough just through work," he stated factually.

Mathias clucked his tongue in disapproval. "See, that's what you're not getting. This isn't about work. We're trying to have fun and make this enjoyable, and you and that kid in the back seem to find this to be a chore."

Tino's lighthearted laugh sounded from the front. "They'll get used to it in time."

They arrived back at the base and unloaded the truck. Mathias made a quick run to the kitchen to deposit the cooler and what was left of the food, and all of them sped to their dorms to do a hurried clothes change. The five reconciled back at the lounge where they assumed the others were waiting for them.  
The rest of the building was found gathered in the conference room, chatting quietly, when they walked in. They shuffled to stand off to the side along with a few others without chairs. Nor barely noticed Yao as the man quietly appeared next to their group. He fixed on Mathias with an unreadable gaze, one eyebrow slightly lifted. "I take it that your 'training' went successfully?"

The tall man in the red shirt saluted the Asian council member. "Yes sir." Returning his hand to the side, he continued. "You'd be surprised at Ice's endurance level, I think he will be a fine fighting companion."

"I see..." commented the man, with full knowledge of the younger one's 'brilliant plan' to get out of work. "We're going to start the meeting, so I will talk to all of you at a later time." He gave a curt nod of his head, and then took his place at the front with Toris, Alfred, Arthur, Elizabeta, and Antonio.

"Alright, we called you here because we received information that one of our patrols have gone missing. Matthew contacted us about an hour ago to report that they hadn't seen anyone from the other group in about 3 hours, and none of them would answer their cellphones." Elizabeta efficiently informed them on the quick back story. _That's Li Xiao and Yong Soo's team…_Ice mused to himself.

Alfred continued. "My bro said they saw a whole bunch of cars drive by close to the time they said that the other group went missing. They don't really know what happened, so they're just waiting for us to make a plan. They suspect it was a kidnapping though, with all the car activity and stuff going on."

In an attempt to make the situation a little lighter, Antonio also brought forth the idea that it was just a communication error. "They could have all just taken a trip without telling anyone, and didn't bring their cellphones! We can't jump to conclusions yet since we don't have enough evidence."

From around the table, they heard Lovino mutter, "Dumbass optimist," before Yao began his part.

"We're going to assume the worst, so we drafted a plan if that is the case. We have three patrols, which means three teams. We'll need one team to stay here to watch over the base, so Ivan's group; your position is here." A tall, pale, man with an intimidating face smiled and then nodded in acknowledgment.

"The remaining patrols will drive to the other base, where we will get with Matthew's group to examine the area and take whatever action is needed. If we get any clues, we'll continue the plan from there and keep all the groups informed." Yao paused to let everyone absorb the information. "Are there any questions so far?" he asked the room of people. Hearing no replies, he motioned for Toris to say his part.

"Tino's group; you will all need to bring a basic set of guns to keep in the trunk, but that's pretty much the only supplies you'll need to get. You might not even use those." Toris pulled his cellphone out of his pocket. "Make sure your cellphones are on at all times, since this is how we're going to keep in touch."

Arthur called out, "Meeting dismissed!" and everyone exited the conference room.

Grouped together, the five stood on the edge of the courtyard. "Should w'go now?" inquired Berwald, beginning to draw the keys out of his pocket.

"I guess we could just go. Does anyone need to get anything?" Nor asked the group.

"We still need to get the guns. Ice and I'll go grab them and meet you guys at the car in a minute!" Mathias decided. Nor nodded, and the three disappeared to the car lot.

"Where do you guys keep the guns?" he asked the quiet boy.

Ice pointed to the opposite side of the tar paved lot. "There's a metal closet type thing over there where we keep them locked up."

"Do we need a key?" Mathias asked curiously.

Shaking his head, Ice replied, "No, we have a combination padlock. The numbers are 070486." The older stood patiently as Ice fiddled with the lock.

"You don't need to worry about your friends." The teen looked up, surprised at the fact that Mathias was able to figure out that hearing the news about what happened to them had been bothering him. "I mean, they've got Vash. Knowing him, the kidnappers are probably going to go through Hell and back before they even get a chance to ask that guy to hand over his gun."

The boy handed him a case and three guns, for once grateful for the other's upbeat personality to keep him distracted. Grabbing two more guns, they both packed the artillery safely into the black cases. Mathias patted him reassuringly on the shoulder.

"Why do you like touching people so much?" Ice asked, acting irritated.

The other just laughed. "I don't know. I've just kinda registered positive physical interaction with someone as meaning that I like them. You know, like when people hi-five each other or when you hug someone. Why else do you think Nor hits me all the time?"

While they headed back to the others waiting in the car, Ice nudged Mathias with his elbow. He figured it would be like his 'thanks' to the older boy for trying to make him feel better earlier. Immediately, Mathias grinned and threw his arms around him. "Awww, I love you too Icey!"

"Too much touching!" Ice shoved him off, and they both opened the doors to the car to meet Nor's questioning gaze. He didn't say anything though, and they climbed into their respective spots in the vehicle.


	9. Chapter 9

**You guys, if I ever take longer than a week to update, send me a message and yell at me or something. It will most likely make me get off my ass and write, and I won't get offended, seriously. I'm really sorry this is so late, I just got distracted with a lot of other things :/ If you have any ideas you may want me to include, send me those too- it might help me out a lot! I don't know anything about British decor, so I know that part's inaccurate. **

**Thank you to Wisely-san and Kayzz for reviewing last chapter- it means a lot to me!**

**Also, this chapter will lead into one that _actually_ goes somewhere (no way, I know right?). I hope you enjoy!**_  
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The last car door slammed shut as the seventeen year-old hopped down from the car to the rough pavement that lined the front circle drive. As he stuck his hands in his pockets and began to make his way to the front building behind the other four older men, he scanned the premises with his violet eyes.

Approaching the sidewalk, his eyes drifted to the detailed landscape that adorned the small plot of land. Similar to the other base, this one was also situated on the edge of the city, as not to mix with the more _unappealing_ aspects of their town. Being on the outskirts, not many people passed by it or had the chance to notice it, so Arthur had _loosely _abided the general rule of making headquarters discreet. He believed that they might as well present themselves well if they had the chance, as he was explaining to Tino and Berwald. They were also newcomers to this site, Mathias and Nor already having prior residence there.

"We keep these lawns trimmed and watered on a schedule," Arthur informed the pair proudly. "That," he gestured towards a garden gnome planted innocently in a flower bed of petunias, "is in fact a camera." Lifting the customary outdoor decoration up, he held it out for them to see. Ice walked up to the small cluster of adults, staying a short distance away, but still able to see what was going on. Arthur flipped up the pointed hat with his finger, revealing an assortment of wires and metal parts fused together. He slid a switch over, and a weak light he hadn't even taken notice of shut off in the gnome's plastic eye.

"Cameras like this are set up at various hidden points of the premises so we can know what's going on around us. I think the first stop that we should make is at the record room, where we keep the visuals collected on these cameras on file." A smug grin forming on his face at the mention of his clever monitor system, Arthur placed his hands on his hips.

"Yo, Artie." Alfred waved his hands from his spot with the other council members; Antonio, who was also new there, was with Tino and Berwald, but the other members were standing in front of the first building. A gate went from around each side of the white painted brick building and extended to another building, one on each side. That was as far as Ice could see, but he was sure that it was also present on the other sides. What use is a fence if it only surrounds half of an area?

The Brit turned an irritated eye towards the dirty blonde. "It's Arthur," he reprimanded.

"Artie it is," Alfred disregarded flippantly. "Anyways, why didn't you just get someone else like Kiku to do this earlier so we didn't have to come all the way out here?" he wondered, one eye on his iPhone as he scrolled through text messages. Distracted with the phone device, he didn't see the deadpan look cross the other's face

"Idiot, Kiku isn't here! We came here to look for him!" Arthur shouted at Alfred exasperatedly. The younger belatedly adopted a look of understanding, but Arthur continued nonetheless. "Also, the only one here who knows how to operate it is Matthew, but that wouldn't matter since our security system was changed before I left. It now requires a fingerprint, and I forgot to get him registered."

He led the group of ten people to the large white modern-looking building. It had a few windows, but not many so as to minimize any break-ins, which were common around the city. He slid a card key into a black card reader to the right of the cream colored door, which beeped and turned the red light to green momentarily. He held the door open to allow the others passage into the room, which had a large space fitted to be a comfortable sitting room. It was their version of the lounge that they had back at the other base, but with a different theme. This one was much brighter than the mahogany-scarlet warm colors that were present at Antonio's location.

Plush blue couches had neatly embroidered pillows resting on their comfortable and welcoming cushions. There were a couple of vases with flowers that fit right along with the cool color palate that the room had going. Its posh furniture selection pulled the room together, a fitting theme for the English gentlemen. Wrought iron white chairs and tables accented the room, and, to the teenager, made the room look like something from a furniture magazine.

"This is our sitting room," announced Arthur with a tone implying that the fact was obvious. His finger pointed in the other direction, where there was a wall with beige wallpaper. "Beyond that is the dining hall, and the kitchen is also in that direction." He proceeded to walk out the back of the building, sliding a glass door over. "Try to remember these details; they might come in handy later."

The back door led to an area in the shape of a rectangle, bordered by buildings and the same fence that was visible from the front. A simple water fountain was situated in the center of the commonplace; a few stone benches and neatly trimmed hedges also nearby. It reminded Ice of a setting he would find in a movie from Britain; considering Arthur _was_ British, he assumed that his homeland was his inspiration for his choice of décor.

"Over that way," he directed, inclining his head towards the building off to the right paneled with large glass windows, "is the training room, directly in front of us are the residential dormitories, and to our left we have the conference room. The cameras are in a small room next to it." The group meandered to the white-bricked building, Arthur unlocking the door for them to enter through. They heard some indistinct chatter as they neared it, which was revealed to be Gilbert, Matthew, Roderich, and Francis, all of whom were lounging around on the conference seats.

They appeared to have been awaiting their arrival, and all assumed a more welcoming position as the newcomers entered. Francis stood up and bowed to them, a smile fastened warmly to his face. He straightened, and then blew a kiss towards Arthur. "Ah, mon amis, you've made it at last. Your trip went without much difficulty, non?"

Giving him a steely glare, the Englishman harrumphed. "Shut it, frog. We've got business to take care of." In the back, Gilbert packed up the deck of cards he and Matthew had been playing with, and Roderich closed the lid on his laptop.

"Mattie!" Alfred pounced on his unsuspecting brother, and the siblings fell to a heap on the floor.

"Al…you're constricting my breathing passage…" coughed out the violet eyed man, face up on the carpeted floor. The blonde pinning him down loosened up a little bit, a wide grin lighting up his rounded facial features.

"I missed you," he whined lovingly.

Matthew returned the smile. Patting him on the shoulder, he replied, "Me too. Now, can you get off of me so I can stand up?"

Gilbert was cackling loudly in the background as Alfred obliviously created the scene before them all. "Kesekesekese, if my bruder ever did that, I'd kick his ass so hard. Ludwig's too much of an uptight guy to do that, though," he remarked.

Reluctantly, Alfred pulled away from his brother. Standing up, he shook his hair and it fell back into place naturally. "So, what's up next?" he energetically asked the glaring shorter gentleman to his right.

"We are going to investigate the records. I will require your brother," Arthur informed the room, sending a pointed look towards the questioner at the last sentence.

With an almost unnoticeable sigh, the curly haired man got up from the floor and adjusted his coat. "I have a name, you know…" he muttered quietly, relocating to the head of the group to join Arthur.

As the two blondes fiddled with the fingerprint reading mechanism, Mathias grinned over to the third one who was glancing around the room, looking bored, to find something to keep occupied with. "Do you think we're going to do detective work and stuff today?"

Having found someone to converse with, Alfred looked up with a similar expression showing his excitement. "Dude, that would be so cool!" He bent his knees, and then held he hands up in mock-defense of an imaginary foe. "I could use my hero skills to totally save the day!"

"Idiots," observed Nor, casually crossing his arms and leaning against the wooden table. Ice scooted towards the maple surface and hopped up to sit on it, watching as the two headstrong blondes engaged in a wrestling match.

"If you two gits don't cease your pointless quarrel, you're both sitting out in the car to melt while the rest of us make progress on this mission!" shouted the irate Englishman.

"Sorry!" apologized the carefree adults, who weren't regretful in the slightest. Giving a final sigh, Arthur unlocked the door and led them into the small closet-sized room. It was very packed with the large amount of people, but they all managed to fit.

Ice was roughly shoved backwards as Gilbert pushed his way into the pack, but instead of landing against the wall, he fell against a strong, warm pair of arms. He let out a warm breath, closing his eyes and relaxing at the inviting contact.

Wait. Contact. Touching someone.

Tilting his head up, he caught sight of golden hair. At the realization of to whom it belonged to, he jerked away immediately, but was pulled back. "There's not much space left, and I don't mind," Nor nonchalantly informed the younger boy. His arms (the splint now removed since his arm healed faster than expected) that were wrapped loosely around his ribcage fell back to their place at his side, but Ice's back was unnervingly close to the other's front. It was true; the spot in front of them was currently occupied by the albino, and they were stuck in the corner where he found no other options other than to oblige and refrain from moving.

Arthur was at the front, leading some sort of talk about what the different features of his costly monitoring system did, but Ice's mind was off on a different level. The close proximity, which was purely out of the need to conserve space, was muddling his thoughts. He didn't remember the last time that something like this had happened to him, if ever it had. No one managed to ever get this close to him, and, of course, it finally happens with his male roommate while they're going through instruction. It wasn't even that big of a deal; they were just pressed close together. Yet, his brain was receiving it in a more affectionate way, which bothered him greatly.

"Alright, so, this button will turn on the screens-" A bright red spread across Ice's face as he accidentally brushed up against the other's arm, and he closed his eyes. "-you can save these files to the computer by-"

"What's going on?" asked Nor, a look of amused question apparent on his face.

"It's nothing," hissed Ice, shyly looking towards the floor.

"-going to look at the viewscreen and check any activity that has happened in the last twelve hours." Glad for a change of attention, the teen focused it one of the four televisions up front. The image instantly popped up; a fisheye view of the front of the building. The timestamp in the lower corner read 03:00. It sped up, and the images rushed by in a flurry of colors. Arthur paused it at one point when they saw a large object appear, but soon realized it was just Francis pulling up a car to the front. They watched as Gilbert jumped into the passenger's seat, Matthew and Roderich politely seating themselves in the back.

"What were you all doing in the car at nine o'clock in the morning?" asked Elizabeta, arms crossed sternly and giving Gilbert an unsure look.

He just laughed, and then replied, "Sister, what do normal people do at nine in the morning? We just went on a little outing to a pancake house, it was no big deal." He waved her off.

"I don't remember any of you mentioning this trip in your report." Yao gave a pointed look at Matthew, the person who was supposed to inform them about any incidents.

"Well," he started quietly, "I was trying to, but in the middle the conversation, Arthur kind of walked away when his phone rang and never came back…" The blonde looked away shyly, and Arthur chucked embarrassedly.

"Sorry about that, lad. I'll see to it next time that it doesn't happen again." He patted him reassuringly on the back, but everyone knew: he would do it again.

Tino piped up, bringing the conversation back to topic. "Where was Kiku's group at the time?" he voiced.

"They didn't come with us; said they'd rather cook something instead. All of us were too lazy to do that, so we just went to eat without them."

Francis needlessly elaborated onto his statement. "Well, I would have cooked a delicious decadent breakfast, but there weren't enough ingredients in the fridge for me to do so. "

"Please," the bespectacled aristocrat snorted. "Like I would eat anything that you-"

"Yo!" interrupted Alfred loudly, pointing to the screen. "Check out the TV!" For once, it wasn't just another obnoxious, narcissistic comment. On the LCD monitor, a black van pulled up to the front of the circle drive. Behind it, two more of the same make and model followed. Six men and women hopped out, all wearing business attire and sporting dark sunglasses. The only thing that offset their formal clothing were the large guns they were carrying, a few of them held up to their chests as if they were going to use them soon.

A chortle came from just in front of Ice. "Nice clothes for a raid, next time we should-" A loud slap was heard resonating from the interaction that had just occurred between Gilbert and Elizaveta. Ice jumped in surprise, his head nearly colliding with Nor's, who luckily managed to hold him in place. The red-eyed man moaned in pain, hand caressing his face, when he turned to shoot a nasty glare at the steely-eyed woman. "Bitch," he growled at her. About five seconds later, the room was momentarily filled with light, and the loudmouthed albino was thrown out of the room while everyone resumed watching.

A woman with a bright magenta blouse, a grey blazer, and dress pants stealthily prowled around the opening. She made it to the left corner, and then made a gesture signaling the awaiting group to proceed forward. All six crept around the building, and Arthur was attentively switching cameras to track their positions. Finally, she paused and fixed her gaze on what was the farthest wall of their establishment: the back of the dormitories. The middle aged lady barked an order at the men behind her, who began to frantically look around for something. One of them, in a sleek looking black suit with a green pinstripe button-up on underneath it, hefted a limestone rock up in his hands, and then got the attention of the woman whom seemed to be in charge of the operation.

She lifted a finger and pointed towards one of the windows near the middle of the building. He moved closer to it, and then recklessly chucked the large rock at the wide glass window. It shattered into millions of sparkling shards that sprayed everywhere, the intruders feebly attempting to shield themselves with their hands. A few moments later it had all settled, so they moved on with their plan.

The men were trying to gingerly step over the glittering pieces of glass, careful not to get sliced or scratch their shoes. Contraire to her companions, the leader strode through the sea of razors, elevated on her heels as the clear jagged-edged pieces crunched underneath her shoes like aluminum cans up against the wheels of cars. Pausing once she was standing adjacent to the wall, she leaned on part of an unbroken portion and took off one of her heels. She positioned it directly above the hole in the window that was not quite big enough for a person to fit through, and then swung it hard against the weatherproof material. Doing it multiple times in small increments, shying away each time as not to get hit, she was able to widen the hole to a much larger opening.

Once again, she menacingly shouted at her minions, and three of the men who were all-too-eager to obey her removed their suit jackets. She pushed off some personal belongings adorning the spot on top of the shelf that was positioned near the window, property of whoever's room that was, and then pulled it over to where they could reach it once they climbed over. The lady grabbed the jackets, and then laid them over the place where a few splintered pieces still stuck up. Throwing an arm over the top, she scrambled up the side of the wall and slid easily into the room. The men followed her, finding the task a little more difficult due to their build, but made it inside nonetheless.

"I only have cameras set up on the perimeter, none inside the grounds," Arthur admitted agitatedly. He flipped back to the camera stationed at the front, and everyone waited anxiously for any movement to happen.

A few minutes later, the door was then abruptly pushed open with a foot, and a bulky man walked out with a struggling teenager slung over his shoulder. Yong Soo was furiously pounding his back with his fists, shouting in his ear and kicking his feet at whatever he thought he could make contact with. The man seemed mostly unfazed, and once they made it to the first van, he set him on the ground and held his arms together. Another one of the suited people stepped out of the driver's seat, chucked at the boy's misfortune, then tossed the captor a thin rope to bind him with. He caught it one-handedly, and then quickly wrapped the white material around his arms to the point where his whole upper torso was immobile.

The same was happening to the others who were being brought out- Kiku, being the most reasonable and accepting the fact that they stood no chance against six armed people, had his arms crossed defeatedly behind his back. Li Xiao was similar to Kiku, but instead of a calm, submissive expression, he had one of icy contempt. The poor girl, Lilly, was slightly trembling. Normally, she wouldn't really have to worry about things like this with Vash around, but… The blonde with the choppy haircut had been knocked out, no doubt due to his resistance from the beginning. All of them were roughly thrown into the vehicles. The kidnappers took a look around to see if any of this had been spotted, then returned to the safety of their vans and took off.

A slow chatter spread through the group. Things like, "Why do you think they planned this?", "What's their deal with kidnapping?", and more prominently, "How do you think we're ever going to find them?" spread through the group as they discussed it with whoever was nearby. People began to file out of the room, and only then was Ice able to put some space between him and the taller man, where it was getting more than a little uncomfortable.

"What's got you all hot and bothered?" asked a curious bystander, who turned out to be Gilbert. He was sitting on the carpet propped up against the wall, reminding Ice much of a child in time out.

"Nothing," he replied shortly.

Gilbert sighed. "Kid, your face is as red as a pomegranate, and I doubt it was all from the body heat in the room." A sly grin made its way onto his pale features. "Unless it was maybe from _one_ person."  
Throwing him a dirty look, Ice replied, "No, it was not."

Walking off, Ice shook his head and muttered under his breath, "I have no idea what he's talking about..."

"Hey, hold up!" He heard some shuffling, and Gilbert was at his side. "I wanna help you."

"Help me with what? I don't have any problems," rebutted Ice, pausing next to a chair.

Gilbert cocked his head in slight confusion. "Don't you ...uh, _like _Nor?"

Ice's eyes flew open, an expression of shock immediately appearing. "Where the hell did you get that idea?" he asked Gilbert agitatedly, quiet enough to where not too many would be attracted to their conversation but still getting his point across. "I have no such interest!"

"Oh, I was sure that there was something back there…" Gilbert mused to himself. He narrowed his eyes and peered down to Ice. "You can't deny love-" Ice socked him in the stomach.

After a few coughs and a moment to regain his breath (and stares), Gilbert murmured, "What is this, make Gilbert feel like shit day?" He stood up straight to face the boy with flared nostrils and even redder cheeks. "Do you not want me to help you or something?"

"Can you not get it through your thick skull that I already said I don't need help!" Ice threateningly whispered to him.

The albino rolled his eyes. "Yeah, because I'm just eating up all that bullshit you're feeding me." With another smirk, he said knowingly. "I'm so awesome I can just detect these types of things, so I would know. You're obviously too childish to understand."

"Why are you even talking to me anyways?" the younger asked dejectedly, staring at the table.

Shrugging, Gilbert replied nonchalantly, "I don't know, I guess pity." After the sharp glare he received for that, he added, "Or maybe of the fact that we share the same awesome hair color!"

"Just go away," said the teenager quietly, putting his head down on the table. Gilbert hesitated, but then returned to the other side of the room.

Out of the small window of light that penetrated his arm barriers that his head was nestled into, Ice saw someone sit down. Of course, it had to be Nor. Just what he needed.

"I thought I told you to keep your distance from him," stated Nor, his clipped tone hinting at his disapproval.

"Stop bothering me," defensively rebuked Ice.

"What's up with you today, you usually aren't this irritable," commented the older boy in his emotionally-removed voice.

Instead of replying, Ice just turned his head the other way in an attempt to ignore him.

"You guys are too tense, lighten up!" cheerily interrupted Mathias, leading over Tino and Berwald.

"That was an interesting recap," remarked Tino, referring to the video. "I wonder what they plan to do about it."

Mathias put one hand on his hip and held the other out palm up, knowingly. "Well, obviously," he and Alfred shared a look.

"We're gonna beat their faces in, and-" they shouted simultaneously, just to have hands thrown over each of their too-large-for-comfort mouths.

Hypocritically, Arthur yelled back at them, "What did I tell both of you about saving the fighting for later?"

"To not do it here," replied Alfred, his voice muffled through the other's hand.

Sighing, Arthur removed his hands and rubbed his temples. "Yes, you do not do it here. Now come to the head of the table, we're going to have another meeting."

The blonde with the glasses made a pouting face. "We have too many meetings," he whined, but the older man took none of that as he then proceeded to grab the collar of his jacket and forcefully drag him to the end of the room, Alfred making choking noises all the way there.

Mathias whistled in sympathy. "Glad I'm not that guy. Always has someone on his back to keep him in line-". He noticed the lifted eyebrow look he was receiving from the blonde on who's chair he was leaning against. "Ha, but I can't forget about you!" he exclaimed with a laugh.

"Alright, since we're getting tired of having repeated meetings, this is gonna be short and sweet." Elizabeta laid down the plan for them all, emphasizing her point by slamming a fist down on the dense wood, which attracted the eyes of some of the members whom were beginning to wander off. "The goal is to track down these kidnapper guys, and then get the patrol back. In order to accomplish all of that, we need to spread out. Francis- lights." The room was enveloped in darkness, only to be lit up by a projected map on the wall behind them. Antonio and Arthur observed how their appointed officers would deal with this situation, watching silently from the side.

This time, Toris stepped up. He shyly glanced to the ground, gave a nervous cough, and then stood next to the projection screen. "We have these places sectioned off, and we will assign each group to a specific part of the city. We plan to proceed with this plan until we get a lead on their whereabouts, in which case you will receive further information."

The image, which had been conveniently projected onto a whiteboard, was sectioned off into four parts with a dry erase marker. "We'll take turns doing partners at the two bases from each of the larger groups, but those four people will be the only ones not on the streets. The North East part will be taken by Abel's group, the South East section will go to Ice's group, the South West part is going to us, and North West belongs to Francis'." Relieved to step away from the center of attention, he migrated towards the back where the other officers stood quietly.

Yao took his turn speaking next. As he walked to the center, his hands were clasped at his back. "We'll all deploy from here in the cars, with the exception of Abel's team who will do it from their place. Your objective is to just drive around, but if it looks like you may need to exit your car and take a look around, it is encouraged." His knowing eyes wandered over everyone surrounding the cherry wood oval table.

"If anything endangers your life, keep in mind that you should do whatever it takes to remove yourself from the situation and relocate to a safer area. If everyone protects themselves, then that reduces the danger level exponentially. Never get caught off of your guard," he cautioned.

"Again, we will be using cellphones, and since you all thought we would be doing field work here, everyone brought them, correct?" He scanned the room, making sure that everyone was prepared. "Are there any questions?" Taking the unmatched gazes as a no, they asked the French man to flick the lights back on.

"Plenty of coffee and Mountain Dew, you guys!" cheered on Alfred, putting away the Nintendo DS he had distracted himself in the corner with during the conference. Arthur had decided to revoke his speaking abilities temporarily so they could have a proper meeting, which had surprisingly (and blissfully) worked.

Ice, who had put his head up in order to _seem_ like his attention was fully focused, turned his head to look at Mathias, who had sporadically appeared at his side. "I don't mind driving," the proud man informed the other four people while reaching for the keys, that he had taken from Berwald earlier, that were resting in his jacket pocket.

"I mind if you drive," stated Nor dryly, raising a hand in opposition.

Knowing that trying to coerce him into agreeing with him was a lost cause, Mathias glanced expectantly over to Ice. The teenager just pretended to not notice him, and looked over to a fake plant placed dejectedly in a corner.

Berwald was wearing his usual (unintentional) cold stare, which could be interpreted as something akin to "Eh." Tino just gave him a weak smile and scratched the nape of his neck.

"Actually, I'm not really feeling that well, so I think I'll just take the back." Mathias changed his mind quickly, seemingly not offended by their lack of trust in his driving skills.

Nor pushed his chair away from the table and stood up. "Good choice," he agreed, slipping his hands into the depths of the taller man's pocket and drawing out the car keys.

Ice reluctantly followed the rest of the group, just as he had been almost the entire time he had known them. The teenager with the uninterested attitude didn't know it at the moment, but his perspective on more than a couple of the trials underway in his life were about to change drastically.


	10. Chapter 10

**This chapter's a bit shorter than usual, but if I let it go on any longer, the next chapter wouldn't flow very well. Ice is a little OOC character in the middle, but there's not really too much of a boundary as to what someone can do when they get emotional. Hope you like it :) Thanks to the guest who reviewed!**

* * *

Nor was seated in the driver's seat, exchanging directions with Berwald. Mathias was lying down in the back- apparently, he actually did feel a little sick like he had said earlier.

"It's no big deal, I'll be fine after a short nap," he had said, reassuring the worried Tino. They could hear his light breaths as his chest rose up and down, a sign that he had already fallen asleep.

The car ambled down the streets, the navigators pointing out different routes they could take to patrol. "These parts're dangerous, s'keep yer guard up," cautioned Berwald.

Ice had never been to this section of the city, so he didn't know what to expect. They began on the west side, and then took the road outlining the city to get there. As they got closer, the teenager noticed more looming buildings with signs of abandonment: smashed windows, spray-painted concrete walls, crumbling bricks. Loose sheets of newspaper fluttered in the wind, blowing in circles down the open street. The car slowed down and Nor announced, "This is where it begins."

The SUV crept along the streets, four pairs of eyes looking outside for any clues hinting at a secret location or just a more populated area where the kidnappers could possibly be hiding. Mathias had risen from his quick rest and was assisting them, albeit weakly. His face was tinged with a pale green, but he seemed to be ignoring it and instead focused on the mission.

From the seat to his right, Ice saw Tino glance at his watch. "Okay, we have thirty minutes before Berwald and I take our first shift of watching the base, so we should keep that in mind," he gently reminded the group.

For a few minutes, they sat in silence as the car rolled through the deserted streets. A moan from the back prompted everyone to look at Mathias, who was curled up in the fetal position on the cushioned seats. Tino unbuckled his seatbelt and leaned over the back of the chair, using the back of his fingers to test the sick man's temperature.

"How long have you had this fever?" he anxiously scolded him.

Eyes squeezed shut, Mathias replied with his face half-buried into the seat. "Only when I got into the car."

"I think we need to drop him off, Mathias is really sick," Tino pleaded, using his wide, innocent eyes on the stern Berwald, who looked against the idea. If they left now, they'd just have to stay there since it would be highly inefficient to drive there, come back here for a few minutes, and then head right back. He couldn't resist the adorable look that the blonde was giving him, though, so he consented.

"Fine," Berwald grunted, turning back to face the front of the car. Nor had an annoyed expression on his face, but said nothing as they drove back.

* * *

"We'll see you both in two hours when we switch!" called Tino, waving to Ice and Nor in the car. Berwald was supporting Mathias, who was giving them a small thumbs up. The vehicle once again pulled out of the circle drive, the trio back at the front of the white building watched as the car disappeared.

As Ice expected, there was an awkward silence. He glanced over expectantly to the older one, hoping that he wouldn't be the one to have to start a conversation.

"You know, there's no reason to be shy around me," Nor commented, knowing about Ice's hesitancy. "If it makes you feel any better, I'll promise you that I'm not here to dump you behind some building and leave you to the dogs."

"I feel safer just knowing that was your thought process." Ice rolled his eyes at the prospect of the collected boy doing something like that.

"It's no problem," replied Nor, his sarcasm blending in perfectly with his normal tone. They passed the halfway point, noting that these buildings at least seemed to have some sort of stable structure.

"Mathias did something like that once before," Nor casually informed him, checking his side mirror. "When we were twelve, we took a trip to the lake and he ran around in swim trunks the entire day. It probably wouldn't have been a problem if it wasn't in November." He said it with a straight face, attentively keeping his eyes on the road.

"Obviously, the idiot caught something, but he was too excited to go camping later that day to tell anyone that he was sick. We get to the campsite and set everything up, and he looks fine. It was later that night, when we shared a tent and his parents were in their own, that he decided it would be the perfect moment to puke all over my sleeping bag."

"He's that stubborn?"

"Not so much stubborn as much as thick headed." Nor sighed with exasperation. "With him, you sometimes get that feeling that makes you just want to strangle him. I've grown accustomed to it, though." With a 'sucks-for-you' look, he said, "Sadly, you will one day too."

"He's not that bad," confessed Ice, not seeing why the blonde always got so pissed off at him.

"Oh, really? Try living with him."

"I prefer living with you," he divulged, only realizing how suggestive that sounded afterwards. "I mean, compared to him; I'd rather live with no one. Because I don't really like you either."

"If you don't like us, who do you like?" Smirking, Ice was finally able to see something other than what looked like annoyance or a bored expression present on Nor's face. And he didn't really like it. "Do you have a crush on someone?"

"No." Ice crossed his arms, signaling that he did not care elaborate on the topic.

"I think you're lying."

"Then you're thinking wrong."

"I'm not wrong. I'm never wrong."

"Stop being a smartass."

The car slowed to a stop, the red of the traffic light appearing. "I see no reason why I should." He shrugged. Not ever being the one to win an argument, much less from the person sitting next to him, Ice retracted his comment.

"We're almost there." The teenager rested his chin on his palm, staring outside the window at the darkening skies. The clouds were bunched together in gray masses, and the sun was no longer visible. The overcast weather and atmosphere held the feeling that comes when there's an approaching storm; the ones that pour unrelenting rain for days.

The black car went from street to street, nothing out of the ordinary catching their attention. They kept their eyes peeled for the same vans that they saw in the video, but the only types of vehicles they could see were rusted and broken down, some pieces missing from being pilfered through by scavengers.

A long creak sounded from an unknown source, alarming Ice. Seeing that Nor didn't respond to it, he furrowed his brows and gave him a wary glance. The man just kept driving forwards though, so he went along with it. The normally unaffected male did, however, react when a bullet whizzed past the windshield, missing the glossy surface of the car's black paint by about three centimeters.

"Duck your head down," Nor ordered the younger one. The only part of Ice that was not frozen was his head, which was facing the back in search of the perpetrator. "Head down," he restated, reinforcing his request by roughly pushing the boy's head down between his knees. The car swerved, almost steering off of the rough-edged road.

Another bullet, and this time it was angled from a direction that could only mean the shooter was on the top of a building. Ice was stabilizing himself by holding onto the side of the car and the dashboard. Nor braced himself, and then made a sharp turn to dart down an alley to hopefully find more cover and get out of the open.

The third bullet actually hit the car, flying through the back window and shattering the corner of the glass. The blonde gripped the wheel tighter, leaning forward and narrowing his eyes. The end of the dark alley was approaching, the light coming through the opening just wide enough for their car to fit through. "You're wearing a seatbelt, right?" the driver asked through his teeth.

"Yes," Ice whispered, wondering if Nor asked that question because he was about to do something with the car.

As soon as the SUV broke out of the narrow black passageway, Nor smashed down on the brake and spun the wheel. The car slid across the pavement, screeching and creating a cloud of smoke. He immediately hit the gas, and the car outdrove the bullets that ricocheted off of the asphalt and the building next to them.

They finally turned a corner, out of reach of the guns. Ice sat back in the seat, shaking as he did so. A bead of sweat rolled down Nor's forehead, who was panting. He rolled down the window and looked to the back of the car. He cursed in a foreign language, then pulled the car over.

"What are you doing, they could be behind us!" panicked Ice, reaching over and grabbing the sleeve of the other quickly with both of his hands, a pleading look in his eyes.

Nor's eyes softened. "I'll be just a second; I need to check on the car. I think it got hit by one of the guns." He gently pried off Ice's fingers, and then went to the back side of the vehicle. He lifted the trunk and grabbed two medium sized guns and some rounds, setting them on top of the black case he got them out of.

Kneeling down, he inspected the underside quickly. One of the tires was pierced, a small hole present on the side. No wonder he was having trouble steering. He lifted a latch built into the floorboard of the car and pulled out a camo canvas bag. Hefting the two guns into his arms, Nor made his way over to the passenger side of the car.

Ice opened the door for him, and immediately had a gun thrust into his arms. "Don't let go of this. The car's tire is blown, so we're going to find cover on foot." Nor began walking towards the buildings, keeping a wall to the side of him. Ice quickly hopped out of the car, took a glance behind them, and then darted after the older boy.

The gun clacked against his leg as he fell into step beside the other one. They walked in a straight line down the side of the street, Nor looking into the buildings they passed through their shop windows. He halted in front of a one-story shop, the glass having seen better days, but still mostly intact. Ice held his breath as he reached for the doorknob and turned it, pushing the wooden door open. The sudden air movement roused some dust that floated around, nearly making the silver-haired boy sneeze.

Old wooden floorboards creaked as Nor stepped across them, examining the walls. They were painted a light shade of blue, and had a few paintings of the countryside bordered with neat frames. There were cabinets with glass doors and a few baskets on shelves. Ice observed an old-time cash register on a counter, making the assumption that this used to be a bakery or café.

"Ice," called Nor from a room in the back. Complying, Ice headed behind the counter and walked into a small room. It had a couch and a desk, furnished with a few other types of furniture you would find in an office. The bag and gun that Nor was carrying earlier were discarded on top of the desk, in which he was rummaging around in. He whipped out a key and left the office momentarily, presumably to lock the door.

He returned, stowing the golden piece of metal in his pocket as he walked in. He shut the door, and then faced Ice. His face was focused as he scanned the boy's body. "Are you injured at all?" he asked, his eyes giving away his concerned attitude.

"I'm fine," defaulted Ice, the phrase being one of the ones he used quite often to respond to questions aimed at his well-being. Internally, he was shaken, but otherwise in good condition.

Nor pointed to the plush couch, which was fairly wide and looked to be comfortable. "Take a seat; I'll see what I can find in here." His sharp eyes scanned the room, landing on the quiet boy. Supplementing his former statement, he explained, "I think it's about to rain, and we'd just get lost if we began to wander around this place. Also, I don't want to run into anyone."

"Do you need help?" Ice offered. Nor shrugged, his back turned, and Ice began perusing the bookshelf. Finding only receipt books and cookbooks, Ice turned his attention to the desk. There were a few notes jotted down in a notebook, so he ruffled through its contents. It was filled with notes about things like financing, which were no help to him.

Nor had opened the closet and had taken down a fluffy brown blanket. "Eirikur, come over here." Ice shut the notebook, then sat on the edge of the couch and took off his shoes. He curled up in a ball on the soft cushions as the older boy shook off some dust and debris that had settled on the blanket over time.

He looked dejectedly to the corner of the room, wondering how a rescue mission had turned into hiding out in an abandoned building, while some killers were right down the street from them. His eyes turned downcast, making his face more forlorn than it already was. He didn't notice the other drag the bag next to the couch, then unzip it and pull out some packaged food.

The brown blanket was draped over him, sparking warmth from inside with its down feather filling. Ice rested his cheek on the soft fibers, slowly beginning to calm down. "Here, you need to eat." A package of beef jerky and freeze dried fruit was placed next to him. He turned to Nor, who was eyeing him from the other end of the couch, his legs folded. The blonde was also eating, taking a bottle of water out from the bag. He tossed it on the couch, joining the pile of food lying in the middle.

Ice figured that Nor wouldn't take no for an answer, so he reached out to get the jerky. He began to munch on the dried meat, aware of the stare he was receiving from the only other person in the room.

Breaking the silence, he asked, "Can we just call someone?"

Nor shook his head. "I already checked- we don't get signal out here." The feeling of hopelessness returned to Ice, settling in his stomach like the flavorless beef he had just swallowed.

A light rain showered the roof, the skies finally emptying their load. Gradually, it became louder, until it was at a steady pour. His appetite lost, Ice wrapped up what was left of his dinner in its wrapper and set it back on the couch. Nor collected their food and returned it to the bag. As he was organizing, he told him, "If our car wasn't out of order and if the weather wasn't this bad, we'd be out there right now. We'll just save that for when the rain lets up or until someone finds us."

Oh, well _that_ just made his day so much better. As the room's overhead light was turned off and a side lamp lit, Ice leaned back against the couch. '_Dammit, Mathias'. _He sniffed. '_If only you hadn't gotten sick, then we'd all be together, and the car probably wouldn't have a flat tire, and I wouldn't have to be stuck with _him.' He rubbed his eyes, his fingers coming away damp. He felt like a little girl for making such a big deal out of this, but he couldn't help himself.

Suddenly, two warm arms wrapped themselves around him, and Ice was pulled back. His head rested against Nor's upper body, and he was turned around to face him.

The blanket covering both of them, he looked up into the other's eyes. The strong, blue irises pierced straight through his own watery, violet ones. "There's no need to be scared. I'll be here to protect you. Always." Nor's surprisingly soft hand reached down to caress his cheek, their gazes still locked.

Feeling that it would be okay, Ice finally buried his head into Nor's chest. He sniffed a few more times, but didn't shed any tears. He didn't fall asleep yet, staying conscious in this loving embrace within the confines of the warm arms. Hands rubbed in small circles on his back, eliciting a sigh of relaxation from the younger boy.

He drew himself closer, drifting off to dream land in a cloud of bliss. A small smile appeared on the blonde's face, and he placed a sweet kiss on Ice's forehead. "Good night, lillebror," he whispered, placing his head down next to Ice's as he too succumbed to slumber.

* * *

"Ice! Nor! Are you both okay?"

"Wake up! If I'm working, there's no way you guys can sleep on the job!"

"It would be bad if they were dead, da?"

"I have half a mind to beat the crap out of your creepy ass if you don't stop it with the smiling!"

Ice sleepily blinked his eyes open and managed to sit up. "Huh?" he mumbled dazedly.

He was pulled into a hug with someone who had just got out of the rain, the scent of perfume enveloping him. "Oh good, you're awake!" Bella held him at arm's length, a teary smile on her face. "We found your car with a bullet hole embedded in the tire, then we saw the cracks in your windshield from where it was shot, and we just didn't know what to think!"

Seeing that she was about to get all weepy, Lovino grimaced and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Yeah, but they're fine now, and we see that. There's nothing to worry about anymore, so don't cry or anything." He awkwardly patted it, never having been one for physical contact. The Italian was also wearing wet clothing, his designer boots still unintentionally balancing drops of water on their surface.

"Neither of us is hurt." The sudden motion behind him and the steady voice surprised Ice, not having noticed that Nor woke up. "Have you contacted anyone else yet?"

"That's what Abel's doing right now." Bella motioned towards her brother, who was standing in the central part of the shop talking on his cell phone. The door was open, and he noticed Ivan browsing the cookbooks off to the side as well.

Nor pushed the blanket off of himself and stood up to face the woman. "About two blocks down, I'm almost sure we located the base where they have the captives. They were the ones who shot at us, and the rest of this place is deserted."

At that moment, they heard Abel shut the lid on his flip phone. "They're all on their way," he informed them gruffly. Taking a stand next to his sister, his lips quirked up in amusement. "I'd be cautious of Mathias if I were you. When neither of you returned after the three hours for your shift to take watch, he completely flipped."

"I'm not surprised, he can get worked up over the most minute of matters," responded Nor, crossing his arms.

"To be honest, everyone was worried about you both," the tall man with the hair to match admitted, shifting his focus to Ice.

Lovino snorted from his spot at the desk he was leaning on, one leg propped up on his lap. "Antonio wouldn't stop going on about how this 'little boy' was in danger." It came out slightly scornful, but the teenager knew it was because he was envious that another person was getting the man's attention.

"Ice was fine, he was with me." Nor protectively slung an arm around Ice's waist, the memories from last night flooding back to him. He discreetly shifted over towards him a little more, finding the gesture consoling. Not like he needed it, he felt fine now. Especially relieved- he was overjoyed that they were found. It was just that he remembered how much attention he had gotten a few hours back; how loved he felt when he snuggled with his 'older brother'.

"That's very sweet of you." Bella beamed one of her genuine smiles towards Nor, elated that the younger boy was finally getting a perfect opportunity to learn one essential skill that he needed much work on- trust.


End file.
